


What's It Gonna Be?

by Tzunayeon



Category: TWICE (Band)
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-06-04
Updated: 2020-01-15
Packaged: 2020-04-07 14:36:44
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 16
Words: 64,932
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19087051
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tzunayeon/pseuds/Tzunayeon
Summary: Tzuyu and Chaeyoung are both crushing on "unapproachable" people, so Dahyun comes up with a plan that can't go wrong, or can it?Inspired by Shura's MV for the song 'What's It Gonna Be?'





	1. Dahyun's Foolproof Plan

Chaeyoung and Tzuyu were walking through the crowded halls of their school, early morning, making their way towards their classroom, both of them walking as if they’d rather never reach their destination.

Chaeyoung suddenly made a stop in front of a bulletin board that was hanging from the wall making Tzuyu’s body collide against her friend’s small form.

“Hey!” Tzuyu complained “What the hell?!” Tzuyu was about to go off on Chaeyoung until she realized why her friend had made such a sudden stop.“Isn’t she the most beautiful girl you have ever seen?” Chaeyoung asked immersed in some sort of trance staring at the poster that was in front of her. Chaeyoung was talking about the one and only, Im Nayeon, head cheerleader on her last year of highschool

and literally THE MOST popular girl in school. Also Chaeyoung’s crush since she started high school, so, about two weeks.

“Well since that isn’t Yoo Jeongyeon then, no” Tzuyu answered making a reference to her two week long crush, Yoo Jeongyeon, leader of the school’s jazz band and Nayeon’s best friend.

“When are you two going to stop daydreaming about your crushes and actually talk to them?” Chaeyoung and Tzuyu recognized the voice that spoke from behind them, Dahyun. The girl made a failed attempt to hug both friends by their shoulders.

“I don’t know Dahyun, when are YOU going to get a crush?” Chaeyoung inquired.

“One does not simply get a crush my little Chae, they come to you, it can’t be rushed” Dahyun answered.

“She’s right” Tzuyu spoke “this time” she clarified in order to stop the pale girl from getting cocky.

“I don’t even think I could ever strike up a conversation with her” Chaeyoung was once again hypnotized by Nayeon’s picture in that poster “I mean look at her!! She’s perfect”

“I wouldn’t even waste my time trying if I were you” a girl none of the three friends had ever seen spoke beside them “from what I’ve seen, she’s dating Jeongyeon” The three friends shared a look and then burst out laughing.

“Yeah, I don’t think so” Chaeyoung was the first to be able to speak after their laughter had died down. If their crushes were dating someone, they’d know.

“I mean… their chemistry is off the charts” the unknown girl voiced her thoughts again.

“I don’t see it” Dahyun said what all of them had been thinking, besides the three of them KNEW both Nayeon and Jeongyeon were single so they had no idea what this girl was going on about.

“Who are you anyway?” Tzuyu did not mean to sound rude, she was just genuinely curious about who this girl was and why she was sticking her nose in their business.

“I’m Kaitelyn, I just moved here from the USA” the girl answered with a smile.

“Well it has been lovely but unfortunately we have to go” Dahyun said pushing Chaeyoung and Tzuyu away from the girl.

“Jesus people really should learn how to mind their own business” Chaeyoung said once that Kaitelyn girl was out of earshot.

“For real” Dahyun said “Well, this is where I leave you guys” Dahyun placed her thumbs on the straps of her backpack “We’re still on for later right? You two are still coming over to my house?” the girl asked while walking backwards.

“Yes Dahyun, we go there everyday, why would today be any different?” Chaeyoung answered smiling, the dimple on her cheek visible.

“Awesome” Dahyun answered before turning around and walking away.

Chaeyoung, Tzuyu and Dahyun were waiting in the line of the cafeteria holding their red trays with both hands and talking amongst themselves when the cafeteria doors opened wide and everyone in there went silent as Nayeon, Sana and Momo made an entrance to the room. They were so beautiful it looked like they were moving in slow motion, wait, no, they were literally moving in slow motion.

“Would you guys hurry up? The food will run out before we even make it to the line!” Jeongyeon shouted from behind her three friends making the whole cafeteria burst out laughing. Dahyun, Chaeyoung and Tzuyu included.

The four friends made their way towards the line, moving at a normal pace now, and they just happened to come to a stop two people behind the three friends that had been watching them. Dahyun, who was standing in the middle of Chaeyoung and Tzuyu, nudged the two girls with her elbow in an exaggerated motion. She was looking to make her friends aware of their crushes’ presence but also tease them a little while she was at it.

“Would it kill you to stop being so obvious for once?” Chaeyoung muttered between her teeth.

“Yeah, it probably would” Dahyun answered shrugging her shoulders. “I’ll stop when you talk to them.” she finished with a smile.

A week later, Dahyun was walking alone through the empty halls. She was in her English class alone and bored and also she needed to pee. So here she was now, making her way to the bathroom, Dahyun was deep in thought, she had to come up with a plan to help her friends talk to their crushes. Partly because she wanted them to be happy but also because they were annoying as hell.

Dahyun kept walking until the bathroom door was on her sight. A girl was just about to open said door when she noticed Dahyun’s presence ‘she’s pretty’ Dahyun thought. The girl held the door open for Dahyun and her mind went black.

“I, uh...ahm, th- thanks” was all Dahyun managed to say before walking inside the bathroom.

“No problem” Dahyun could hear the girl say as she walked inside. Her voice was just as angelic as her face. And Dahyun couldn’t get her out of her mind the whole day.

Dahyun plopped down on her green beanbag while Chaeyoung and Tzuyu took a seat on her bed, their backs against the wall. “So I have two announcements” Dahyun said folding her arms behind her head getting herself more comfortable “First one, I got a crush and secon-”

“Shut up” Chaeyoung cut Dahyun off. Chaeyoung and Tzuyu moved closer to the edge of the bed

“How? When? and most importantly, who?” Tzuyu asked. Dahyun took a deep breath before answering.

“Well she held the bathroom door open for me” that was enough explanation for Dahyun, or so she thought.

“You crushing on a girl just ‘cause she was polite to you is so relatable” Chaeyoung spoke

“Imagine when your kids ask how you two met” Tzuyu added

“It was thanks to an open door” Chaeyoung teased

“Oh my God! Love Is An Open Door could totally be our song!” Dahyun said dreamily, unfazed by their friends’ teasing. Chaeyoung and Tzuyu turned to look at each other.

“You do know Hans is bad, right?” Chaeyoung broke Dahyun out of her day dream

“Huh?”

“Like, he turns out to be the bad guy, never really loved Anna, almost gets her killed??!?! Sound familiar to you?”Chaeyoung explained further

“Have you even watched the movie?” Tzuyu asked sensing Dahyun’s confusion

“No, but it doesn’t matter the secon-”

“Wait!” Chaeyoung cut Dahyun off yet again “You haven’t told us who she is!”

“Uh well, I don’t know who she is, I had never seen her around before” Dahyun pouted

“I can’t believe you two shared such a romantic moment and you didn’t ask for her name” Tzuyu said sarcastically

“If I see her around I’ll tell you, anyway let’s move on to more important stuff, the secon-”

“Hold on, I gotta pee!” Chaeyoung shouted already halfway out of Dahyun’s room

“Unbelievable” Dahyun muttered under her breath, shaking her head, while Tzuyu just laughed at the situation.

“Now that you two are here, pee free, the se-” Dahyun stopped herself just in case “thesecondthingIwantedtotellyouisthatIfiguredoutaplanforyoutwototalktoyourcrushes” Dahyun spoke quickly afraid of being interrupted again.

“Damn, you should be a rapper” Chaeyoung commented.

“Maybe, in another universe, I am” Dahyun answered winking towards a wall.

“Did you just winked at nothing?” Tzuyu was silently judging Dahyun

“No, I winked at the invisible camera that’s recording us” Dahyun answered and threw another wink in the same direction

“Right…” Chaeyoung began “Cool, now could you repeat yourself ‘cause I understood nothing”

“I said that I figured out a plan to get you two to talk to your crushes” Dahyun spoke more clearly this time

“Ah that’s good” Tzuyu said a little less excited than Dahyun had expected her to be.

“Well what is it?” Chaeyoung asked now, Dahyun should’ve told them about this before talking about her crush, she figured they had both unnecessarily wasted their excitement.

“I made a slide show, wait” Dahyun stood up to go get her laptop

“Of course you did” Chaeyoung smiled fondly at her.

Dahyun sat back on her bean bag once she got a hold of her laptop. Everyone waited patiently until it turned on. Finally Dahyun started the slide show.

“Im Nayeon” Dahyun started “12th year. Head cheerleader and the reason why Chaeyoung forgets how to breathe, also the reason why Chaeyoung tripped over one of our classmates and almost broke her nose” Dahyun changed the slide on her laptop “Yoo Jeongyeon” she continued as a picture of Jeongyeon appeared on her computer screen “12th year. Leader of the jazz band, plays the saxophone and the reason why Tzuyu dropped her soup all over herself the other day” Dahyun took a deep breath “I think it’s fair to say that given our evidence, both of you don’t function around your crushes. So I came up with a foolproof plan.” Dahyun smiled proudly, the screen of her laptop showing a slide with the words YOU TWO ARE D U M B.

“There’s no way it’s foolproof if you’re the one who came up with it” Tzuyu said wanting payback for Dahyun bringing back the soup situation.

“Nice one!” Chaeyoung high-fived her.

“...Anyway, Tzuyu will join the cheerleading team to get closer to Nayeon and Chaeyoung will do the same with Jeongyeon after joining the jazz band, then when you get close enough you go, by the way my friend wants to get in your pants and boom! Everyone’s happy” Dahyun finished almost out of breath. Her last slide showed a very badly drawn picture of Nayeon and Chaeyoung kissing and Jeongyeon and Tzuyu as well.

“I don’t want to be a cheerleader” Tzuyu said after a brief moment of silence.

“I’m afraid it’s the only way” Dahyun answered shaking her head.

“Why do I have a saxophone in all of this drawings? I don’t even know how to play one” Chaeyoung started “Besides, it seems too complicated, we could just befriend Sana and Momo and have them introduce us” Dahyun gasped after Chaeyoung was done speaking.

“I did NOT come up with this perfect plan at the school’s bathroom after meeting the love of my life for you to disrespect me like this” Dahyun said pretending to be offended “Besides, Momo and Sana are always with Nayeon and Jeongyeon so it’d be the same thing, you two becoming useless just because they are near.”

Chaeyoung and Tzuyu shared a look “Okay fine we’ll do it” Tzuyu said.

Honestly neither Chaeyoung nor Tzuyu thought this was a good plan but they both decided to just go with it, what could possibly go wrong?


	2. Of Microwaves and Vending Machines

“C’mon, Jihyo’s always out here during lunch” Dahyun told her friends while she was walking towards the back of the main building “Aha!” Dahyun shouted when she spotted Jihyo, startling everyone around here “there you are.”

Jihyo turned to look at her “Dahyun!” Tzuyu and Chaeyoung stood there confused, how did Dahyun and Jihyo know each other?

“We’re neighbors” Dahyun answered the unspoken question while she hugged Jihyo.

“You two must be Tzuyu and Chaeyoung, Dahyun always talks about you, it’s nice to finally meet you” Jihyo said “So what brings you three here?”

“Well… we were wondering” Dahyun began and the two just decided to let her do the talking, this was her plan after all “How can we join the cheerleading team?”

“Ah, they hold auditions every first week of the month, so…” Jihyo stopped to think for a moment “This week, you’re in luck” Jihyo knew about all this stuff, she had to, after all she was student council president “You can find them at the gymnasium, from 3 to 5 pm.”

“I see… what about if we wanted to join the school jazz band?” Dahyun made a second question

“Ah, that one is easier, you just need to show up to the music room after school and talk to Jeongyeon”

“What about the cooking club?” Dahyun was asking this for herself ‘cause she was interested in joining that one

“You have to sign up online, at the school’s website and print the registration voucher then just go there after school and show the teacher your voucher, she’s going to put your skills to test first tho, so be prepared” Jihyo finished.

“I never would’ve thought the cooking club would be so picky” Chaeyoung commented

“It wasn't before but from what I’ve heard it became like that after Jeongyeon set the teacher’s hair on fire” Jihyo shrugged.

The four of them laughed imagining the scene. Dahyun, Chaeyoung and Tzuyu thanked Jihyo before making their way to the cafeteria.

“Guys wait” Dahyun stopped in the middle if the empty hallway “I wanna buy some chips from the vending machine” she explained reaching into the pocket of her jacket to look for money.

“I need to go to the bathroom” Tzuyu said

“Me too, how about we go and then meet up at the cafeteria?” Chaeyoung suggested

“That’s fine by me” Dahyun answered with a shrug and watched her friends leave.

After successfully retrieving enough money from her pocket, Dahyun placed it inside the vending machine and then punched the number 15 in the keypad. She watched as her chips started moving never making it to the bottom as they got stuck in place.

“Oh c’mon!” Dahyun shouted into the empty hall. She let out a huge sigh before resting her head against the cold glass of the vending machine.

“Is everything alright?” Dahyun heard someone say behind her

“Huh?” Dahyun turned around and came up face to face with the angel like girl from the other day “Oh I. uuuh my… my chips” Dahyun pointed to the stuck bag of chips inside the machine, unable to form any coherent sentence.

Normally Dahyun would have no problem talking to someone she didn’t know, she was an extrovert after all. But this was angel girl and Dahyun just couldn’t mask her nerves around her.

“I see” the girl was intently looking at the vending machine “I can help you” she confidently walked closer to the vending machine and after punching in some sort of code Dahyun’s chips fell down.

“Thank you so much really” Dahyun was saying as she crouched down to pick them up. She gathered up the nerve to ask the girl her name but once she got up again the girl was already gone.

Dahyun sat down at the table her friends were at, having finally made it to the cafeteria.

“Took you long enough” Chaeyoung said as soon as Dahyun’s butt made contact with the white chair.

“I had an issue with the vending machine” Dahyun explained “but guess what?” Tzuyu and Chaeyoung looked at her, silently urging her to continue

“I saw my crush, she helped me get my chips actually” Dahyun finished smiling from ear to ear.

“Tell me you asked for her name this time” Chaeyoung said hoping her friend wasn’t that dumb not to.

“No, I could barely even thank her, she left before I could say anything else” Dahyun pouted

“Are you even sure she exis-” Tzuyu’s words were cut off by the sound of a small explosion echoing throughout the whole cafeteria.

Jeongyeon was standing in front of the cafeteria’s microwave, shoulders up and her eyes shut tight. She slowly opened her eyes, she went to open the microwave’s door only to find it was broken and she was now holding it entirely in her hand.

“This is just amazing” Jeongyeon said sarcastically to herself, she looked inside the microwave only to find the popcorn she had been trying to make was completely burned. 

“Yoo Jeongyeon, I’m not even surprised” Jeongyeon took a deep breath already aware of exactly what teacher was on cafeteria duty that day. Oh Nilo, the human embodiment of a headache and the most useless teacher ever.

“I can explain” Jeongyeon began but cut herself odd when she so Mr. Oh’s expression, she may have thought the guy was a complete jerk, but Jeongyeon respected the authority, unluckily enough, the authority in this case was Oh Nilo.

“Detention after school” Nilo said firmly

“But” Jeongyeon wanted to defend herself, this wasn't even her fault “I have rehearsals after school.

“You should’ve thought about that before blowing up the only decent microwave in school” Mr. Oh said back

Nayeon finally reached the two people speaking.

“Hi Mr. Oh, did you get a haircut?” Nayeon asked smiling sweetly at the teacher. There were only two teachers who seemed to be immune to Nayeon’s natural charm and Mr. Oh was definitely not one of them.

“I- I did, thanks for noticing” He smiled back at Nayeon, and she tried her hardest not to throw up.

“So what seems to be the problem here?” Nayeon asked even though she was fully aware of what was happening, and so was the majority of the student body.

“Mrs. Yoo blew up the microwave and now she’s getting detention” He explained looking at Jeongyeon with an air of superiority. Jeongyeon gripped on the microwave door, how easy could it be to just swing it at his head. She felt Nayeon’s stare on her and when the two locked eyes Nayeon just shook her head ‘Fine, I don’t even like baseball that much’ Jeongyeon thought.

“Is it really necessary to give her detention for something that clearly wasn't her fault?” Nayeon questioned the teacher “Besides, I’m sure she won’t do it again” Jeongyeon almost let out a laugh after Nayeon’s comment but thankfully she was able to stop herself before she made things worse.

“I guess we could lose the detention, she’ll still have to pay for a new one, and clean this mess” Mr. Oh finished and walked away

“This is the fifth time I get you out of detention in the week and it’s Wednesday!, what on Earth happened now?” Nayeon sounded like a mother scolding her child

“Well you see, I was sitting with you guys and I told you I was going to make some popcorn so I came here” Jeongyeon moved to the exact same place where she was before “I opened the microwave blah blah blah, and so I pressed the popcorn option and it blew up! Just like that!” Jeongyeon threw her arms up in frustration “Now I’ve got no popcorn! At least I didn't get detention” Jeongyeon shrugged

“You DID get detention! I saved your ass from it, yet again” Nayeon scolded

“Hmmm” Jeongyeon answered eyes fixed on the mess she hadn't made, she looked down at the microwave door she was still holding and sighed before starting to clean up the mess.

Once classes ended Dahyun and Tzuyu were walking Chaeyoung to where the school’s jazz band rehearsals took place.

“They grow up so fast” Dahyun said wiping fake tears from her eyes “It seems like just yesterday you were coming out of my womb” Dahyun carried on with her act.

“Okay, that’s enough” Chaeyoung said making Dahyun stop her acting, terrible acting if you ask Tzuyu “Bye, wish me luck” Chaeyoung said walking through the door, she took one last glance back only to find Dahyun and Tzuyu giving her a thumbs up.

Chaeyoung finally entered the music room, it was less packed than she would’ve expected but she preferred it that way. She scanned the room until her eyes landed on the person she was looking for, Yoo Jeongyeon. Chaeyoung walked towards the older with determined steps. She tapped her shoulder to get her attention. Jeongyeon turned around.

“Hi” Jeongyeon let out with a confused expression on her face “have we met before?”

“Hey, and I doubt that” Chaeyoung smiled, Jeongyeon was really pretty up close, how come she never noticed? Perhaps because she had never seen her up close. The two of them just stared at each other waiting to see who would talk first. Chaeyoung shook her head.

“Son Chaeyoung” she shook hands with the older “I was told to come here if I wanted to join the jazz band”

“Oh you want to join, that’s fantastic” Jeongyeon clapped her hands while a smile spread through her face, before Chaeyoung knew it she was smiling too.

Jeongyeon made her way to a desk that was on the left side of the room, she started going through a pile of papers there “So, Chaeyoung, what instrument do you play?” Jeongyeon asked the younger looking at her briefly before looking back down at the papers, Chaeyoung noticed now that they were music sheets.

“Uh, the piano” Chaeyoung wore a confused yet amused expression, Jeongyeon suddenly dropped the papers she was holding onto the desk they were in before, startling Chaeyoung in the process. Tzuyu’s crush really was… weird, in a cute way, but still Chaeyoung never would’ve imagined.

“That’s perfect” Jeongyeon answered, she usually never behaved like this but the truth is, she was just hyper because it had been a long looong time since someone joined the jazz band an she was excited.

“Take this” Jeongyeon handed Chaeyoung a bunch of music sheets “That’s all the songs we’ll perform at the Christmas festival, I’ll introduce you, c’mon” Jeongyeon tilted her head and Chaeyoung followed her.

“Nope, you’re doing it all wrong!” Dahyun held her head with both hands in feigned frustration.

“I haven’t even done anything yet” Tzuyu rolled her eyes at Dahyun

“I know, I know, it just felt right to say that” Dahyun threw an innocent smile in Tzuyu’s direction.

“Okay so” Tzuyu let the pom poms she was holding hit the ground “I don’t know anything about cheerleading and CLEARLY you don’t either” Dahyun didn’t even protest, it was true. “so what am I going to do?”

“How about you dance for them? Like, instead of a routine?” Dahyun suggested

“I don’t know” Tzuyu had taken a seat next to Dahyun on the field’s bleachers, they only had about twenty minutes before the soccer team claimed the field for practice.

“I’m sure you still remember that dance we did during 8th grade and I mean, you could just use the pom poms and do the exact same choreography”

“Fine, let’s go wait for Chaeyoung and go over to your house” Tzuyu stood up and went to pick up the blue pom poms that were still lying on the ground.

“I’m glad that’s finally over” Nayeon said letting her head fall down into the desk in front of her.

“It wasn't THAT bad” Sana spoke from besides Nayeon

“Not that bad? It was disastrous! And I’m being nice by saying that” Nayeon huffed out before slouching down on the chair, arms crossed.

“Hey, don’t worry too much about it, there’s still two more days of auditions left, I’m sure we’ll find someone” Momo encouraged Nayeon, giving her a pat on the shoulder.

“Well someone better be good or all this torture will be for nothing, the squad’s still two down and we’ve got regionals to worry about”

Sana and Momo knew how much this team meant to Nayeon, besides college scouts would be attending regionals and it was Nayeon’s shot at getting a scholarship.

“C’mon, for now you can stop worrying about it, let’s go home” Sana said standing up

“You’re right, Jeongyeon is probably waiting for me” Nayeon stood up and began gathering her things.

“So how was your day?” Nayeon asked Jeongyeon once the two of them were settled inside the younger’s car.

“Pretty good, I mean, aside from the microwave incident. A girl joined the jazz band” Jeongyeon said and Nayeon could hear her smile

“Tell me more” Nayeon asked in hopes her conversation would make her forget about her day.

“Well she’s a pianist and you know how we were JUST looking for a pianist, she has this big pretty eyes and she’s a really really good pianist, I was blown away” Jeongyeon’s eyes never lost focus of the road ahead

“Yoo Jeongyeon, are you, perhaps, crushing on this girl?” Nayeon asked half jokingly

“What? N-no I’m not! I was simply preaching her piano skills” Jeongyeon tried defending herself, she knew how annoying Nayeon became when it came to crushes.

“By complimenting her eyes” Nayeon said letting out a small laugh.

“Whatever, how was YOUR day?” Jeongyeon knew there was no winning against Nayeon.

“Well, for starters, Shownu asked me out again today, when will he get the hint that I’m not interested?” Nayeon let out frustrated.

“When you come out” Jeongyeon stated the obvious

“You know I can’t do that” Nayeon said in a rushed whisper

“Anyway, how were the auditions?” Jeongyeon changed the subject, she knew the previous one was sensitive for her best friend.

“Disastrous, not a single girl that auditioned was good enough” Nayeon sighed for the nth time today.

“Sounds to me like you’ll have to stop being so demanding” Jeongyeon said focused on the left turn she was making right now.

“Never, we’re either all in or not at all” Nayeon answered unbuckling her seatbelt, they were already parked in front of Nayeon’s house “I’ll see you tomorrow” Nayeon said before slamming the door shut and walking away.


	3. Burnt Chicken Nugget

For the first time in forever Tzuyu was dreading the end of classes, which was weird considering that it was Friday, Tzuyu loved Fridays.

Truth is she was nervous about her audition, even if she practiced a lot, she still had this weird feeling at the pit of her stomach. Maybe it was the way she had heard people talk about Nayeon, nothing you wouldn’t expect from the most popular girl in school, that’s probably why Tzuyu was so nervous about it, but she had to do her best. Chaeyoung was already doing THE MOST and she had to step up.

“Tzuyu! Tzuyu!” Chaeyoung was snapping her fingers in front of Tzuyu’s face “C’mon, class is over” Chaeyoung said while standing up.

“What?” Tzuyu panicked thinking school as a whole was over but realized quickly it was only second period “Oh right, let’s go” Tzuyu picked up her backpack and carried it in one shoulder.

“Wait” Chaeyoung stopped Tzuyu from walking any more steps “I just got a text from Dahyun, she says to go meet her quickly, apparently her crush is there” Chaeyoung and Tzuyu moved as quickly as they could.

After Dahyun quickly sent that text she put her phone on the pocket of her hoodie, staring at the angel-like girl from the distance as she talked to a teacher just outside the classroom. She probably looked like a creep, staring at someone from behind a locker but she was too mesmerized to care right now.

“Dahyun!” said girl jumped in surprise, abruptly breaking out of her trance, Dahyun turned around to face her friends.

“Come quick guys or you’ll miss her” the three of them picked around the corner from behind the locker only to find an empty hall before their eyes.

“What the- I swear she was there just now” Dahyun spoke in disbelief.

“Sure she was champ” Tzuyu patted her friend’s shoulder, thinking now more than ever that Dahyun’s crush existed only in her imagination.

Chaeyoung and Tzuyu left quickly after that, already a few minutes late for their next class. Dahyun pressed her back against the locker she had been peeking from. She covered her eyes with her hands out of frustration.

“Excuse me, you’re standing in front of my locker” Dahyun slightly separated her fingers to look at whoever spoke in front of her, of course it was angel girl, Dahyun quickly composed herself.

“Oh I’m so sorry” Dahyun said and started walking backwards while bowing repeatedly to her crush, that is until her butt collided with the corner of another locker “Ouch!” Dahyun cried out in pain before turning red, realizing her crush’s eyes were still on her, she quickly turned around “Way to go Dahyun” she whispered to herself and walked away rubbing her damaged butt. Dahyun’s crush was left laughing slightly at her as she watched Dahyun walk away.

“Are you girls ready for the last day of auditions?” Sana asked as she placed her tray on top of the table and took a seat.

“Not even close to ready, coach Jimin went off on my ass yesterday, she said we need the squad complete for regionals, as if I don’t know that already” Nayeon finished with a roll of her eyes. Park Jimin was one of the two teachers Nayeon didn’t have wrapped around her finger. And she hated it.

“If we don’t go to regionals we still have nationals though, right?” Momo spoke through a mouth full of food

“No” Sana answered this time “regionals are like qualifiers for nationals, we can’t have one without the other”

“What she said” a defeated Nayeon spoke beside Momo. She really was hoping they’d find two new members today or she’d have to say goodbye to regionals, and that’s something she REALLY didn’t want to do.

“So” Dahyun said and took a bite of her food. Tzuyu and Chaeyoung were patiently waiting for Dahyun to stop chewing,

“Why would you say so and then take a bite of your food after?!” okay, maybe not so patiently

“Sorry I-” Dahyun now took a sip from her orange juice

“She’s nervous” Chaeyoung said, having known Dahyun her whole life she had become an expert on picking up the girl’s emotions.

“That’s an understatement” Dahyun replied “You know that feeling when your mom leaves you in the queue of the supermarket and the line starts moving and your mom is nowhere to be found?” Chaeyoung and Tzuyu nodded “That’s how I feel right now”

“Damn” Chaeyoung concluded

“Why?” Tzuyu asked confused

“Well, I’m trying out for the cooking club today, I thought I told you guys…” Dahyun answered confused now as well.

“You didn’t” Tzuyu said

“Hold up” Chaeyoung began “I thought you asked Jihyo about it as a joke” the three friends were all now equally confused. Dahyun just shrugged her shoulders.

When Chaeyoung entered the room she saw Jeongyeon struggling to open one of the lockers they had there, Chaeyoung walked up to her, ready to help

“Stupid locker! Open up!” Jeongyeon said pulling on the handle with too much force, she lost her grip on the handle and her elbow landed right in Chaeyoung’s face, her nose to be more precise.

“Ouch!” Chaeyoung complained “Is this what I get for trying to help?” she joked but she could feel her nose would soon start bleeding.

“Oh Chaeyoung, I am so sorry! I didn’t notice you were there, let me see” Jeongyeon took Chaeyoung’s hands away from her face in order to examine the damage that she had done “Does it feel like it’ll bleed?” Jeongyeon asked concerned, still holding Chaeyoung’s hands.

“Yes” Chaeyoung then tilted her head upwards to prevent her blood from dripping.

“Let me take you to the nursery” Jeongyeon finally let go of the younger’s hands

“It’s really not necessary, I’ll just go there myself, you have lots to do here anyway” Chaeyoung said trying to look at Jeongyeon but unable to due to the position her head was in.

“Nonsense!” Jeongyeon handed Chaeyoung a tissue and Chaeyoung threw her a grateful smile “Jae!” Jeongyeon caught the guitarist’s attention “Can you start rehearsals for me?”

“Sure thing boss” Jae said saluting Jeongyeon with one hand.

The two girls walked quietly to the nursery, Jeongyeon figured it’d be hard for Chaeyoung to speak right now so she didn’t try to strike up a conversation.

The nurse was quick to take care of Chaeyoung and soon her nosebleed was a thing of the past. Jeongyeon stayed with her the whole time even after Chaeyoung insisted that she could leave.

“So how are you liking the jazz club?” Jeongyeon asked once they started walking back to the music room

“I like it so much already” Chaeyoung began, answering honestly “I feel like home here, everyone is so friendly and welcoming plus they’re constantly praising my piano playing skills, feels nice” she finished

“Well you ARE an amazing pianist, it’d be a waste not to praise those skills” Jeongyeon stopped in front of the music room’s door and smiled sincerely at Chaeyoung, the younger’s heart did a weird flip and she quickly looked away.

“After you” Jeongyeon told Chaeyoung after opening the door.

Dahyun was standing outside of the door that lead to where the cooking club held it’s activities, she was nervous, her palms sweating and her heart beating in her ears.

“You’ve got this” she whispered trying to encourage herself, she took a deep breath before knocking on the door.

Kim Yubin was the teacher in charge of the cooking club so it made sense that she was the one who opened the door for Dahyun.

“How may I help you?” Yubin asked Dahyun seeing as the other girl wasn’t saying anything.

“Oh yeah, I ummm, would like to join the cooking club” Dahyun answered, slightly intimidated by Mrs. Kim

“I see, do you have your registration voucher?” the teacher asked

“Uh yeah, here” Dahyun handed her the recently unfolded voucher

“Come in” she said after looking at the voucher and moved out of the way to make space for Dahyun to come in.

Dahyun walked in and quickly looked around, it was like a restaurant’s kitchen, sure Dahyun didn’t know much about kitchens, or anything at all actually, but still it looked very professional.

“This is where you’re going to work” Yubin said placing both of her hands on top of a workstation “as you know you have to go through a test” Dahyun nodded and walked towards her workstation, Yubin walked away.

“Your first task” Yubin said placing two bowls in front of Dahyun, a small one filled with eggs and a bigger one empty “Is to crack this eggs open inside this bowl”

Dahyun’s mind drifted back to the egg incident a few years ago. Chaeyoung, Tzuyu and her were trying to cook scrambled eggs for breakfast and when Dahyun tried cracking the egg it didn’t even make it to the pan. She shook her head.

Under Yubin’s gaze and with trembling hands Dahyun successfully cracked all of the eggs open. She mentally gave herself a pat on the back, she did well.

“Second task” Yubin placed several vegetables in front of Dahyun “chop ‘em up”

Dahyun carefully did so, trying hard not to get distracted by the other students working there, and soon enough she was finished.

“And finally, your las task is to cook one of this” Yubin told Dahyun placing a bag of frozen dinosaur shaped chicken nuggets in front of her, easy, Dahyun thought

“Now please excuse me, I have to go check up on my students” she walked away

Dahyun set the pan on place and turned on the fire, she took a chicken nugget out of the bag and looked at it, cute. She placed it on the pan, she then noticed she forgot the cooking oil so she poured some into the pan, a little too much since her hands were still trembling, a big flame rose from the pan making Dahyun jump back, she had to think quickly before Mrs. Kim noticed the mess. She saw a glass full of water and she quickly threw it towards the pan but it didn’t help, mainly because Dahyun’s aim wasn’t really that good and also she threw most of it on herself, she looked at the empty glass in her hand and quickly put it over the flame making it die down, she sighed in relief and then noticed Mrs. Kim walking towards her. She quickly put the glass away and pretended to be very focused on her cooking.

“Are you done?” Yubin asked now standing in front of Dahyun, who just smiled at the teacher “Dahyun?”

“Yeah?” Dahyun finally realized words were being spoken

“I asked if you were done” Yubin repeated herself

“Oh yeah, yes I am” Dahyun said and Yubin took a look at Dahyun’s pan, she stared at it for an eternity in Dahyun time and then turned her gaze to Dahyun, who in the midst of all the chaos hadn’t even checked the outcome of her nugget.

“Get out” Yubin spoke after a while, Dahyun started walking out, her head hanging low “And take your burnt chicken nugget with you” Dahyun walked back, head still down and went to grab the nugget without looking up, after a few tries it was finally in her hand, she shoved it into the pocket of her hoodie and walked out of the kitchen she just named “The Kitchen of the Broken Dreams”

Dahyun slouched down against a tree, she reached inside her pocket and took out the burnt nugget, it looked like a dinosaur shaped piece of charcoal now

“Charcoalsaurus, you’re my only friend” Dahyun said before taking a bite of the nugget, spitting it out immediately, lesson of the day: burnt food does NOT taste good.

There were so many people waiting to audition at the gymnasium, Tzuyu should’ve expected this, and she did, I mean, who wouldn’t want to be part of THE Im Nayeon’s cheer squad?

Tzuyu watched as Nayeon rejected girl after girl and even some boys, Tzuyu felt her confidence decreasing as she went over the choreography in her head. She really hoped it would be enough to earn a spot on the squad.

The girl in front of Tzuyu got rejected too and now it was Tzuyu’s turn, she gulped and her grip on the blue pom poms tightened, this was it, her feet moved before she could back out and soon she was standing in front of Nayeon, Sana and Momo.

“Chou Tzuyu” Nayeon said, she hadn’t turned her gaze to Tzuyu yet “Do you have what it takes to be a cheerleader?” Nayeon asked finally looking up

“I do” Tzuyu held Nayeon’s heavy stare and the older had to hold back the urge to gulp.

Hush by Miss A started playing and Tzuyu was now focused solely on making every move right, Nayeon’s eyes watched her attentively.

The reason why it had been so easy for Nayeon to hide her sexuality all this years was because she never really liked anyone, sure there were pretty girls here and there but no one ever caught her eye. So now that this Chou Tzuyu had, Nayeon would do everything in her power to keep her away.

Tzuyu was panting when she finished dancing, she was extremely proud of herself. Sana, Momo and everyone in the gymnasium were clapping, everyone except for Nayeon, and that worried Tzuyu.

“If you seriously think that learning a choreography and throwing in some pom poms is what cheerleading is all about then you don’t deserve a place in this squad“ Nayeon spat out after the sound of clapping had died down “Next!” she shouted

“Wait!” Sana made Tzuyu stop in her tracks “Let us just… discuss this for a moment” Sana smiled politely at Tzuyu, whose self-esteem was now on the floor, perhaps if she kept walking she would’ve tripped on it.

Sana and Momo both leaned closer to Nayeon in order to try to make her listen to reason.

“Nayeon what on Earth?!” Sana whisper-yelled

“Why would you reject her? She’s literally perfect for the squad!” Momo whispered as well. That was the problem for Nayeon, Chou Tzuyu was literally perfect.

“She doesn’t get the essence of cheerleading” she stated

“See, now you’re just making up stuff” Momo said close to giving up with her friend

“So let’s put her to test, if in, let’s say one month, she’s still not good enough for you, she leaves” Sana proposed

“Fine” Nayeon answered only because she was certain that she’d get her way in the end. Sana and Momo went back to sitting properly

“We’ve talked it over and decided you’re in” Nayeon said effectively catching the girl’s attention “Under one condition, if you don’t prove yourself to be good enough in one month, you’re out of the team” Nayeon said smiling smugly at Tzuyu and the tall girl wanted nothing more than to smack that smile out of her face.

She also wanted badly to turn down the offer. Nayeon had just humiliated her in front of so many people and she had stepped all over her self-esteem, but then she thought about Chaeyoung.

“Okay” she finally answered, for Chaeyoung.


	4. Rescue Mission

Tzuyu walked out of the gymnasium in a confused state. She thought making it to the cheer squad would give her some sort of satisfaction or at least a sense of achievement, but all she felt was confusion, Nayeon did not seem to like her very much, how was she supposed to set Chaeyoung up with the cheer captain if she already didn’t seem to like her? Tzuyu still didn’t understand Nayeon’s attitude towards her but she tried her best not to think about it.

“You didn’t get in either, huh?” Tzuyu turned her head to the left to see who had talked to her. She saw Kaitelyn standing against a locker arms crossed. Tzuyu internally rolled her eyes, this was the last thing she needed right now.

“Actually I di-” Tzuyu could not finish explaining herself when she was rudely interrupted by Kaitelyn

“I just don’t understand what I did wrong!” Kaitelyn threw her arms up in frustration and started walking besides Tzuyu. Tzuyu had seen Kaitelyn’s audition so she knew exactly what she had done wrong: everything, but she decided to bite her tongue this time.

“Now my plan has been frustrated” Kaitelyn huffed and Tzuyu wondered if the girl seriously not noticed her lack of interest “I was supposed to become a cheerleader and then Nayeon’s best friend and she’d tell me all about her and Jeongyeon but now everything’s ruined” Tzuyu felt Kaitelyn come to a stop and then she could hear a faint sobbing, Kaitelyn couldn’t possibly be crying over that, could she? Tzuyu turned around and surely Kaitelyn was sobbing right into her hands, Tzuyu thought there wasn’t a time as good as this one to pretend she didn’t see anything and walk away, and that’s what she did.

Her phone buzzed in her pocket and she took it out, it was a text from Dahyun, she was home already but she was waiting for them there.

Tzuyu called Chaeyoung a couple times but she didn’t pick up so she decided to head to Dahyun’s house on her own after quickly sending Chaeyoung a text to let her know. Tzuyu hopped on her bike and made her way over to Dahyun’s house.

“Great rehearsal everyone! See you all on Monday, enjoy your weekend!” Jeongyeon told the jazz club after they were done, she then walked towards Chaeyoung who was stuffing her music sheets messily into her backpack.

“You should bind those, it’s easier to carry them around that way” Jeongyeon said looking down at a struggling Chaeyoung.

“Thanks for the tip” Chaeyoung said looking up, a strand of loose hair falling into her forehead “I’ll get that done this weekend” she smiled at Jeongyeon and put that loose strand behind her ear before looking down again, she successfully packed everything into her backpack and zipped it up.

“So…” Jeongyeon started taking a seat on one of the desks in the music room “do you have any plans for today?” Jeongyeon asked in hopes of starting a conversation with the younger who was looking at her phone right now.

“Well…” Chaeyoung shoved her phone into her backpack “I’m going over to a friend’s house. She was supposed to wait for me but she left already so I’ll just go there on my own” Chaeyoung finished shrugging.

“I could take you there if you want” Jeongyeon offered. For some reason she wanted to stretch out her time with the younger, she enjoyed her company.

“I don’t wanna bother you, it’s not too far anyway”

“It’s no problem really, let me do this for you” Jeongyeon finished and Chaeyoung nodded reluctantly so Jeongyeon started walking sure that Chaeyoung was following, Jeongyeon smiled to herself.

Once they were close enough to her car, Jeongyeon took out the keys to unlock it.

“Wait!” Chaeyoung said hitting her forehead “I forgot my bike” she ran away

“Do you think it’ll fit insi-” Jeongyeon stopped herself once she noticed Chaeyoung wouldn’t hear her.

“I’m here, sorry” Chaeyoung appeared with her bike a few minutes later.

“How are we gonna fit it inside the trunk?” Jeongyeon asked concerned that it wouldn't fit. Chaeyoung quickly started folding it until it became the size of one of its wheels.

“Like this” Chaeyoung said smiling at a confused Jeongyeon and then she placed the wheel-size bike on the trunk and closed it.

While on the car with Jeongyeon, Chaeyoung thought that this was a perfect opportunity to talk to Jeongyeon about Tzuyu but for some reason she just couldn’t get the words out, some other time, she thought.

“Turn left and then right, the fourth house on your right is where my friend lives” Chaeyoung told Jeongyeon who did as told behind the wheel.

“You have such a sweet voice, maybe if the GPS sounded like you I’d use it more often” Jeongyeon let out a small laugh, she couldn’t stop herself from saying that dumb compliment that left both girls with crimson tainted cheeks and shy smiles. Chaeyoung shook her head slightly, unnoticeable to Jeongyeon.

“It’s here” Chaeyoung pointed at a green house and Jeongyeon stopped the car in front of it. She got out and took Chaeyoung’s bike out of her trunk before handing it to her.

“Thanks for the ride, see you on Monday” Chaeyoung practically sprinted away and Jeongyeon sighed, her stupid compliment surely made her uncomfortable, she scolded herself and drove away.

“What’s up?” Chaeyoung greeted as she entered Dahyun’s room, closing the door behind her. Dahyun lifted her head from Tzuyu’s lap and smiled at Chaeyoung.

“Well, Tzuyu got into the cheer squad! Which means my foolproof plan is still going strong and soon Tzuyu will be Nayeon’s best friend, right Tzuyu?” Dahyun said nudging Tzuyu with her elbow.

“Right” She answered reluctantly

“Is she even prettier up close?” Chaeyoung asked excitedly jumping into Dahyun’s bean bag

Tzuyu wanted to tell her friends how rude Nayeon had been to her, she wanted to tell Chaeyoung how bad of a person Nayeon came off as, she wanted to tell Dahyun that she was done with this stupid plan, but after seeing how her friends were looking at her she simply answered “yeah, she is” which wasn’t a lie, Nayeon really was pretty, Tzuyu tried her best to smile convincingly after that.

The room was soon filled with laughter as Dahyun told her friends what happened at her try out. Chaeyoung never found the time to mention Jeongyeon gave her a ride here, or maybe, she didn’t really want to.

“What about Eunha? She’s pretty” Sana suggested, already wanting to get this done with.

“Pretty doesn't make it, she’s not good enough” Nayeon said frustrated, rubbing her temples with both hands

“I think at this point we can agree no one’s going to be good enough for you, you’re gonna have to settle, whoever we choose will eventually get better with time” Sana scolded Nayeon, sometimes, when it came to cheerleading, Nayeon was just too much.

“Why are we even looking for someone else? Didn’t we get two new members already?” Momo asked confused

“Yes, but since Nayeon is sure she’ll kick Tzuyu out by the end of the month we need some sort of backup” Sana explained

“Oh, I see, I vote for Eunha too then” Momo made her opinion known

“Ugh fine, Eunha it is” Nayeon accepted hoping Sana was right and that Eunha would improve greatly by the time regionals came.

“Okay then, so we got Eunha, Tzuyu and Jun as the new members, right?” Sana asked wanting to make sure

“Yeah, yeah” Nayeon answered still not completely convinced about the decision “Can you let Eunha know we changed our mind?” she asked Momo

“Sur-” Momo got interrupted

“I’ll do it!” Sana offered and Nayeon just nodded

Dahyun was standing on a… stage? How did she get here? Who were this girls standing with her? Why was she holding a microphone? Before any of her questions got answered the stage lit up.

Dahyun looked at the huge crowd in front of her, they were DEFINITELY expecting her to do something, but what exactly was she supposed to do? She wasn’t a singer or a dancer, she was just Dahyun. Maybe she could entertain them with some jokes, no, not the jokes, that wouldn’t work. She was already thinking up a plan to escape the situation but before she could run away a song started playing and Dahyun’s body started moving, as if she’s done this a million times before, her movements were perfectly synchronized with the other girls. . She tried her best not to show her confusion as her mouth moved to its own accord. Soon enough she started rapping and the crowd was chanting her name.

“Dahyun! Dahyun! Dahyun!” the girl’s eyes opened abruptly as she sat up on her bed, her breathing heavy.

“Dahyun! Sweetheart, you’re gonna be late to school!” her mother shouted from downstairs.

Dahyun turned her head to look at her clock, she plopped back down on her bed again, five more minutes wouldn’t hurt

“Dahyun!” she heard her mom shout again just as she was closing her eyes. She huffed and got up from bed, why must the weekend go by so fast?

“And that’s when my mom woke me up” Dahyun had just finished telling her friends about the dream she had, they were currently riding their bikes to school “I swear it felt so real, almost like… a vision of me in another universe, or another dimension, something like that”

“Another universe in which you’re an idol?” Chaeyoung huffed “Yeah, right”

“Yeah, I don’t think that’s possible, the other universe thing, it’s just not realistic” Tzuyu shrugged

“It felt too real…” Dahyun mumbled, her mind deep on thought

“Let’s speed up or we’ll be late” Chaeyoung said getting a head start, Dahyun and Tzuyu followed quickly after.

Nayeon was at her locker gathering her books before heading to the cafeteria for lunch period when someone leaned on the locker beside hers. She didn’t even wanna look, she knew exactly who it was.

“Hey” Shownu said throwing Nayeon his most charming and kind smile

“I don’t wanna go out with you” Nayeon answered her eyes still focused intently on the inside of her locker

“Huh…, well weirdly enough that’s not why I’m here” Shownu straightened himself up “We got paired up for that Literature project, remember? And I was wondering how we should do it, should we get together some time or maybe I could email you my part or-”

“I’ll do it on my own and add your name to it, don’t worry about it” Nayeon said closing her locker door and walking away from the boy.

Nayeon felt really bad for being so harsh to Shownu, he was a good guy, he really was but he just didn’t take the hint and Nayeon didn’t like him like that.

As Nayeon was walking through the hallways Jeongyeon caught up with her

“Boo!” Jeongyeon shouted in Nayeon’s ear, using both of her hands to push the older gently, Nayeon screamed.

“Yoo Jeongyeon!” she slapped Jeongyeon’s arm “I’ve told you to stop doing that!”

“But your reactions are priceless” Jeongyeon laughed while holding her slightly stinging arm, Nayeon did hit her forcefully after all.

“Whatever” Nayeon rolled her eyes and started walking again.

“So you never told me, how were the auditions on Friday?” Jeongyeon asked walking besides Nayeon.

“I don’t wanna talk about it” Nayeon answered and Jeongyeon let out a huge gasp, coming to a stop in the middle of the hallway.

“Im Nayeon? Not wanting to talk about cheerleading? Do you feel alright? Have you caught a fever?” She quickly walked up to Nayeon standing in front of her, placing one of her hands on the shorter girl’s forehead, Nayeon quickly slapped it away.

“Stop, I’m not sick, it was just underwhelming, that’s all” Nayeon said cutting the conversation short not wanting her mind to drift back to the tall black haired girl, though her mind really didn’t leave that thought during the whole weekend, all she could think of was Chou Tzuyu and she hated that

“If you say so” Jeongyeon said and decided to keep quiet after that, something had DEFINITELY happened during said auditions but Nayeon would tell her when she felt the time was right.

“It’s your first day of cheer practice today Tzuyu, how are you feeling?” Dahyun asked the girl sitting in front of her

“Meh” Tzuyu answered though inside she was feeling very nervous “I feel okay”

“I’m sure Nayeon will love you, you two will become friends in no time” Dahyun said sure of herself and Tzuyu held back the urge to correct Dahyun

“Me and Jeongyeon already are friends” Chaeyoung answered as if it was no big deal, also if she didn’t say it now she’d never say it, she was sure of that.

“Why hadn’t you told us?!” Dahyun asked “That means step four is done with, you need to step up your game Tzuyu”

“Well I don’t know, it just didn’t come up” Chaeyoung said as Dahyun took a big gulp of her orange soda

“The other da-” Chayeoung’s words were cut off when Dahyun spit all of her soda straight into Tzuyu

“Ew Dahyun!” Tzuyu complained standing up, she used both hands in an attempt to wipe the soda off her face, she then shook them by her side.

“Sorry it’s just… angel girl is there” Dahyun said in a whisper. Tzuyu reached for the napkins they had in their table

“Whomst’ve?” Chaeyoung answered and Tzuyu was trying her best to wipe the soda off her face and shirt, but it was already drying up

“My crush, and she’s with… Jihyo?” Dahyun’s face turned into a puzzled expression, fist because Jihyo rarely came to the cafeteria and second because Jihyo knew her crush?!

"Good then, let’s go talk to them” Chaeyoung stood up and started walking but she was stopped when Dahyun grabbed her arm.

“No, I can’t, I’m not ready” Dahyun said showing Chaeyoung her most convincing puppy eyes.

“Fine” the younger answered before sitting back down next to Dahyun.

“I’m going to the bathroom to get cleaned up” Tzuyu informed her friends after noticing the napkins weren’t helping anymore, the two girls just nodded.

Tzuyu looked up at herself in the mirror after washing her face, tiny drops of water hanging from her cheeks and her chin, she took a paper towel and dried her face before tossing it into the trash can. She looked down at her previously white shirt and sighed, how was she supposed to hide that?

“Orange looks good on you” Tzuyu heard after the bathroom door opened and closed. She looked up and her eyes met Nayeon’s

“Is that supposed to be a joke?” Tzuyu asked trying to mask her annoyance

“Obviously, there’s no way ANYTHING would look good on you” Nayeon said followed by a mocking chuckle, Tzuyu balled her fists and turned her body so it was facing Nayeon’s

“What is your problem?” she asked as calmly as she could “We barely even know each other yet you treat me like shit”

“You are my problem” Nayeon answered looking down at her nails as if nothing was more interesting right now

“I-” Tzuyu stopped before she could say anything, there was no point in arguing with Nayeon so she just started walking away, that is, before Nayeon’s body got in the way.

“Listen to me” she began getting closer to Tzuyu while Tzuyu moved back trying to avoid the closeness between their bodies “and listen very carefully” Tzuyu’s body finally hit the wall. Nayeon’s face impossibly close.

“I know what you’re trying to do and it’s not going to work” Tzuyu hid her puzzled expression when Nayeon finished saying that, did she know she was trying to set her up with Chaeyoung? She couldn’t possibly, could she? “I’m gonna make sure once this month is over you’re out of the cheer squad for good” Tzuyu’s face remained emotionless but on the inside all she could think was what on Earth was Nayeon talking about? And also how pretty Nayeon was and how nice her deep voice sounded, too bad she only used it to say nonsense.

“Cool, see you at practice then” Tzuyu said brushing past Nayeon and walking out of the bathroom.

How was Tzuyu so unaffected by their proximity? It fueled Nayeon’s anger that she felt her heart was about to burst while Tzuyu’s face remained void of all emotion. She had to make sure that after she kicked Tzuyu off the team, the other girl would also get out of her life.

Nayeon, Sana and Momo were sitting down at the soccer field’s bleachers waiting for it to be time to start cheer practice.

“Did you talk to Eunha?” Nayeon asked Sana

“Yup, she said to thank you for the opportunity” Sana answered

“Mmm” was all Nayeon said back before reaching for her phone which buzzed in her hand, Jeongyeon had sent her a message.

‘Do you still have that cardboard cutout of myself I gave you the other day?’ Nayeon read and knowing Jeongyeon, she did not like where this was going

‘The other day haha, that was years ago but yes, you told me to keep it in my locker at all times so it’s there’ Nayeon typed out

‘Why?’ she hit send after a moment of hesitation

‘I need a favor’

Nayeon peeked inside the detention room. Mrs. Kang was an old, very old teacher that was usually in charge of this kind of stuff. She was known around school mainly because of her extremely poor and deteriorating eyesight, also, her extremely thick glasses without which she was practically blind. Nayeon a deep breath and put on a smile.

“Hey Mrs. Kang” Nayeon greeted entering the room. Mrs. Kang took off her glasses, and put on another pair that allowed her to see well from up close.

“Nayeon darling, hello, what brings you here?” the old woman answered sweetly and Nayeon felt bad for doing this

“Oh not much, I was just walking by and I thought to myself, why not pay my favorite teacher a visit” Nayeon put her hands behind her back and gave Sana and Momo the signal they had been waiting for.

The two girls walked quickly inside the detention room while Nayeon entertained Mrs. Kang, they silently greeted Jeongyeon as she made her way out of the room. Sana and Momo carefully placed the cardboard cutout on the seat Jeongyeon was previously sitting on and then walked away and out of the room, Nayeon saw them from the corner of her eye and took it as a queue to stop her conversation with the old teacher.

“Well, as always, it’s been a pleasure Mrs. Kang but I’ve gotta get to practice”

“Goodbye sweetheart, I’ll see you around” the teacher answered with a smile “Now where did I put my other pair of glasses?” Nayeon heard her say before she finally made it out of the room

Once outside she walked up to where her friends were standing, talking amongst themselves.

“Yoo Jeongyeon, what did you do now?” she asked

“It was an accident” Jeongyeon pouted

“What was?” Sana asked curious

“I maaay have started a small fire during Chem lab” Nayeon shook her head

“How small is small?”

Jeongyeon showed her index finger and her thumb and Nayeon sighed in relief, before Jeongyeon started increasing the distance between her fingers until finally she had both her arms extended by her sides. Nayeon sighed and rubbed her forehead while Sana and Momo giggled, like two siblings watching their big sister get scolded.

“Anyway, can you two take this to the lost and found?” she said handing Momo a pair of glasses, Momo nodded and she and Sana walked away.

“You stole Mrs. Kang glasses?!” Jeongyeon asked with a mix of amusement and surprise.

“If she put them on you would’ve gotten caught” Nayeon explained and Jeongyeon nodded “You owe me one” Nayeon pointed a finger at her best friend.

“Don’t I always?” Jeongyeon said smiling while she hopped away headed towards the music room.


	5. The Cheesecake Bandits

Chaeyoung and Tzuyu had both already left Dahyun’s side to go to their respective activities so Dahyun was just wandering about on the hallways, perhaps waiting two hours for her friends without anything to do wasn’t such a good idea.

As she was about to make a turn on the corner a conversation caught her attention so she stopped behind the wall, ears perked up and all of her focus on the conversation the two students were having.

“We’re making the cheesecake on Wednesday, Yubin told us the other day, I can’t believe you forgot” one of them said, cheesecake, that was like the sole reason why Dahyun wanted so desperately to get into the cooking club

“Well you know me, I easily lose focus” replied the other “It’s a shame though, that we have to wait a whole day to taste it”

“Well Yubin says letting it refrigerate overnight is what makes it so special”

Suddenly Dahyun found something to do while waiting for her friends.

Tzuyu arrived at the soccer field but she found no one there, only some members of the soccer team, was she in the right place? Maybe practice was held at the gymnasium, she checked the time just to find out she was just early.

Tzuyu decided to take a seat on the bleachers and wait until someone came. It was awfully hot out there and she started feeling her throat dry. She decided it wouldn’t hurt if she went to the water fountain to drink some water, so she went.

When Nayeon arrived at the soccer field after successfully helping Jeongyeon escape detention, she found Sana and Momo waiting for her, there were still a couple minutes left until three p.m. so Nayeon figured everyone else must already be on their way, and she was right. Soon enough, at exactly three p.m. everyone was there, everyone except… Tzuyu.

“I’m afraid we cannot start practice without everyone” Nayeon said crossing her arms in order to avoid anyone noticing her disappointment about the missing tall girl.

Tzuyu felt everyone’s eyes on her as she walked into the soccer field, a pair felt heavier than the rest and Tzuyu knew exactly whose.

“You’re late” Nayeon pointed out the obvious, Tzuyu held back the urge to tell her that she was only like a minute late.

“Sorry” Tzuyu answered nonchalantly, she wasn’t actually sorry and she didn’t understand why it was such a big deal that she was a minute late.

“Sorry does not make up for your mistake, sorry I didn’t come to practice, sorry I couldn’t make it to the game, sorry I couldn’t make it to the performance. Whether you’re a minute late or an hour late, you’re still late, you need to really compromise and be disciplined if you want to keep your spot in this squad” Tzuyu wondered if Nayeon would be this harsh if someone else had been late and not her. She had a point though as much as Tzuyu hated to admit that.

“You’re gonna run loops for the first hour of practice, see if that teaches you anything” Nayeon finished her eyes glued to Tzuyu’s, she left them there for a while and Tzuyu was not looking away either, Nayeon finally turned her attention to the rest of the squad. An hour running laps, Tzuyu thought, I’m gonna die.

Chaeyoung was practicing her part on the piano when the sound of the door opening interrupted her concentration, she looked up from the black and white keys to see Jeongyeon tip toeing inside the room. Chaeyoung smiled to herself because Jeongyeon was being completely adorable right now.

Chaeyoung shook her head when an image of Tzuyu popped on her head. Tzuyu has a crush on Jeongyeon, she reminded herself, that’s why you’re here. She watched as Jeongyeon greeted Jae and everyone got in position to get rehearsals started. Chaeyoung would never admit it out loud but she was slightly disappointed because Jeongyeon hadn’t acknowledged her.

Mina loved the peace and quiet she got going home twenty minutes after everyone else left. There was just something about silence that Mina really enjoyed. So she was walking through the empty hallway, headed home at last.

While walking in front of the office room she noticed a girl in front of one of the doors, staring at it, seemingly too focused. As Mina got closer she noticed it was that weird girl with which she had several encounters in the past week or so.

She intrigued Mina, from her beautiful porcelain skin to her strange behavior around her, something made Mina want to get to know her. She was terrible at making friends though so she wasn’t sure how that was going to work. She took one last glance at the girl contemplating the door, maybe some other day, she then continued making her way home.

Tzuyu was panting, drops of sweat covering all of her face, she was sure she would pass out if she took another step. Luckily her watch beeped letting her know an hour had passed since she started running.

It may not seem like it due to her mostly emotionless face but Tzuyu is quite shy so having to run around the field while the soccer team and the cheer squad trained wasn’t the most comfortable scenario for Tzuyu, she was just glad it was over.

Tzuyu walked slowly over to the rest of the cheer squad. From what she could see Nayeon was teaching the new members some basic moves while the rest of the squad worked on a routine.

“I’m done with the laps” Tzuyu informed Nayeon once she reached the place where they were training.

“You’re benched for today’s practice so take a seat” Nayeon said not even looking at the taller girl.

“I’ll just leave then, there’s no point in me staying” this time Nayeon stopped all her movements and turned to look at Tzuyu

“You have to stay, it’s part of your punishment, besides you could take notes on what cheerleading is actually about” Nayeon said partly because it was true, she couldn’t just leave, but also because she wanted Tzuyu to focus on her, to stay and watch her do what she did best.

“Whatever” Tzuyu said and went ahead to take a seat on the bleachers.

While watching the squad training Tzuyu couldn’t stop her eyes from drifting to Nayeon, every move she made was perfectly executed and she looked so graceful. Tzuyu thought Nayeon truly was very pretty, it’s just her personality kinda ruined it for Tzuyu, not like she would be crushing on her otherwise or anything, she just understood Chaeyoung’s crush on the captain, right, Chaeyoung, that’s why Tzuyu was still here…

Chaeyoung was glad rehearsal was finally over, it was specially tiring this time around and even more so considering the fact that Jeongyeon still hadn’t acknowledged her and for some reason that upset Chaeyoung.

“Hey you” Chaeyoung said rather shyly to Jeongyeon who was busy putting away her saxophone.

“Hi” Jeongyeon answered not even looking up, making Chaeyoung frown.

“Is everything alright?” Chaeyoung began “We haven’t really talked today” Jeongyeon finally looked at her and noticed her genuine confusion.

“I just thought that you… Nevermind” Jeongyeon was gonna bring up her dumb but true compliment on Friday but Chaeyoung really didn’t seem to mind that so Jeongyeon backtracked. “How was the weekend?” Jeongyeon asked quickly not leaving any space for Chaeyoung to think about what Jeongyeon was going to say.

“Short, uneventful, but I bound my music sheets like you suggested, how about yours?” Chaeyoung asked back

“The usual, just visited my grandparents’ house” Jeongyeon wasn’t sure what else to say to keep the conversation going so she settled for “Are you leaving now?”

“Yeah, my friends must be waiting for me, it was nice talking to you, see you around” Chaeyoung waved and walked out of the music room.

“Tzuyu!” Chaeyoung shouted after Tzuyu when she saw her on the hallway “Wait up!” Tzuyu did as told and the two friends walked together out of the school and into the parking lot.

“You two are finally here” Dahyun said standing besides her bike

“Oh no” Chaeyoung said “I don’t like the look on your face” Chaeyoung’s statement made Tzuyu focus on Dahyun’s expression, she was definitely up to something.

“What did you do?” Tzuyu asked hesitantly

“It’s not about what I did, it’s about what WE are going to do” Dahyun answered as she took a seat on her white and blue bike “We are going to steal the cooking club’s cheesecake”

“No way I’m doing that, forget it” Chaeyoung stated firmly after Dahyun told them what she wanted to do.

“Yeah, I’m out too, can’t risk my perfect record” Tzuyu shrugged

The three friends were already comfortably settled inside Dahyun’s room after a whole ride in which they tried to talk Dahyun out of stealing a cheesecake.  

“C’mon guys! From what I’ve heard it’s the best cheesecake in the universe!” Dahyun exclaimed with an exaggerated motion of her hands.

“This universe or the one in which you are an idol?” Tzuyu said seriously making Chaeyoung let out a loud laugh.

“Ha ha, very funny, anyway, I’m going to do this with or without your help” Dahyun crossed her arms to add a little dramatism.

Tzuyu and Chaeyoung looked at each other, they couldn’t possibly let Dahyun do something so stupid on her own, they sighed.

“Fine” Chaeyoung answered in defeat “We’ll help you”

“Yay!” Dahyun shouted and knocked both of her friends into her bed with a hug “You two are the bestest”

“We know” Tzuyu answered “Now get off, you’re suffocating me”

After Dahyun was back on her bean bag she started explaining her very elaborate plan to her two friends that tried their best to keep up with all the information Dahyun was giving them.

“How are we supposed to pull that off?” Chaeyoung asked “We’re not spies!”

“Speak for yourself, look” Dahyun said stretching her right leg up to her ear.

“Is that supposed to prove something?” Tzuyu asked after a moment of silence in which Chaeyoung and Tzuyu could only stare at Dahyun and her stretched leg.

“Yes, that we’re gonna rock this” Dahyun answered confidently

Tzuyu’s Tuesday had been pretty much uneventful so far and she actually enjoyed cheer practice today because for some reason Nayeon never showed up, but being Dahyun’s friend no day could ever be uneventful.

“Tzuyu! Come here” Dahyun urged Tzuyu over with a desperate hand movement “Where’s Chaeyoung?” she asked once Tzuyu was in front of her

“Well… I don’t know” Tzuyu said with a shrug of her shoulders “must be on her way”

“We can’t wait, c’mon” Dahyun said and started walking, Tzuyu close behind

“Where are we going?” Tzuyu asked following Dahyun even if she had no idea where they were headed.

“You’ll see, I’ll explain once we get there” Dahyun said and kept on walking to some place Tzuyu had never been to.

“We’re here” Dahyun informed her movements coming to a sudden stop

Tzuyu’s phone was buzzing inside her pocket so she took it out and saw Chaeyoung’s name on her screen, she quickly answered and pressed the phone against her ear.

“Where are you guys?” Chaeyoung spoke from the other side of the line before Tzuyu could even say anything

“Uh we-” Tzuyu took the phone off her ear and covered it with her left hand. “Dahyun where are we?” Dahyun took the phone away from Tzuyu and started explaining Chaeyoung where they were and how to get there.

Nayeon was hanging in her house, she had gotten into her pajamas as soon as she came back from the airport and was about to make herself a bowl of popcorn and watch a movie. Her doorbell rang as soon as she entered the kitchen, she sighed.

“Who is it?” Nayeon asked once she reached the door

“Did anyone order a pizza?” Jeongyeon said from the other side of the door, Nayeon rolled her eyes.

“Come on in Jeong” she said opening the door, letting her best friend in

“You could at least pretend you’re happy to see me” Jeongyeon joked

“Oh Yoo Jeongyeon, I have never been happier to see someone before, thanks for blessing me with your presence” Nayeon joked back as the two of them took a seat on Nayeon’s brown couch inside her TV room.

“Mmhmm, okay, now let’s try that again but less… sarcastic” Jeongyeon answered

“Shut up, what are you even doing here?” Nayeon asked, it wasn’t uncommon for Jeongyeon to be over at Nayeon’s house but it was weird that she came unannounced because despite the fact that there was enough trust between them. Jeongyeon knew Nayeon’s boundaries so she always made sure to let the older know when she was coming over.

“Sorry, I tried calling but you didn’t answer, I came by to drop off today’s work” Jeongyeon explained

“Oh okay, well, thank you very much” Nayeon said and Jeongyeon started explaining, Nayeon knew she must’ve asked around to figure out what Nayeon’s class had done because she wasn’t in the same as her, she really appreciated the gesture.

“Where’s Kookeu by the way?” Jeongyeon asked her mid-explanation

“Mom took him to some dog hotel before she left. she didn’t want me to have any distractions now that exams are coming up, you know how she gets” Nayeon explained

“I also know how YOU get” Jeongyeon voiced out, worry evident in her voice

“I’ve been doing okay, don’t worry” Nayeon assured quickly

“Well you know I’ve got your back if you need anything” Jeongyeon told her sincerely

“Yeah, I know” Nayeon threw Jeongyeon a genuine smile.

“Move a little to the right” Dahyun ordered Chaeyoung and Tzuyu

“Here?” Tzuyu asked, already done with this

“Yes, exactly there” Dahyun told them

“X marks the spot” Chaeyoung said before marking a small x made out of tape on the wall

“And that was the last one” Dahyun informed her friends

“Ugh finally, I don’t know why we had to go through all this trouble” Tzuyu complained

“So we don’t get caught Tzuyu, that’s the whole point of checking for the security camera blind spots” Dahyun explained as if it should’ve been obvious to her friends

“How did you even get access to the footage?” Chaeyoung questioned her friend with a raised eyebrow

“I’m a woman of many resources, now let’s go home and rest, we’ve got a big day tomorrow” Dahyun placed her iPad inside her bag and then threw it over her shoulder.

“You guys know what to do right?” Dahyun asked Chaeyoung and Tzuyu as the three stood in front of the office room. Oh Nilo’s office was the office on the receptionist’s right side, so the friends’ left. Oh Nilo didn’t only teach the most boring and useless class in this school but he also was some sort of hall monitor, which meant he had access to all of the school’s keys, all of them. Dahyun had studied his office closely, she knew where to look for the keys, she knew how often the receptionist got distracted with her phone, how often she took a bathroom break, she knew Every. Single. Thing. her watch beeped

“It’s show time” Dahyun told her friends

Chaeyoung and Tzuyu hurriedly barged inside Oh Nilo’s office, for added effect, and put on their best worried faces.

“A fight broke out on the third floor!” Tzuyu exclaimed making Nilo drop his half-eaten sandwich on top of his desk.

“Take me to it” he said already running for the door. Dahyun watched from the outside as they walked away. She made sure the receptionist was still distracted with her phone and snuck all the way inside Nilo’s office. It smelled like anchovies and Dahyun resisted the urge to puke.

Dahyun crouched down next to his desk and quickly opened up the right drawer, bingo! all of the school keys were there, she looked for the one labeled kitchen club and took it out of the keychain.

“Fight, there was no fight, they interrupted me and my anchovy sandwich for nothing” Dahyun heard Nilo speaking to himself, his footsteps approaching rapidly ‘Shit!’ was all Dahyun could think in this situation.

The steps were getting closer and closer so Dahyun opted for hiding under the desk, as further away from Nilo’s char as physically possible, she held the stolen key close to her chest and hoped her heartbeat wouldn’t give her away.

She watched from under the desk as Nilo took a seat, his feet dangerously close to Dahyun’s, her breath got caught in her chest, she could hear Nilo chewing and the smell of anchovy got stronger. He chewed with his mouth open so it wasn’t really hard for Dahyun to figure out what he was doing.

She needed to find a way to get out of there and she had to do it fast. A pen fell down from Nilo’s table startling Dahyun who tried her best not to make any movements after the sudden sound, the fallen pen landed just beside Dahyun, this was her end. She saw as Nilo started bending down to pick up the pen, she was so caught.

Suddenly, and to Dahyun’s relief, Nilo’s office phone started ringing.  

“Fucking what now?!” She heard Nilo yell out before picking up the phone and saying “Nilo’s office, how can I help you?” in the sweetest voice he could.

“Yeah, I’ll be there in a minute” she heard him say before hanging up “I’ll see you later Mr. anchovy sandwich, duty calls” Dahyun almost let out a laugh but managed to hold it back, she heard Nilo leave the office and she peeked from the side of the desk, coast clear, this was her chance to get away.

She crawled towards the door, she got up and opened and closed the door as quickly as she could, the receptionist was in another one of her phone breaks. Dahyun kept her eyes on her as she walked out. Unexpectedly the receptionist took her eyes away from the phone. Dahyun crouched down as quickly as she could and started crawling her way to the door.

“Hey you!” she heard the receptionist practically yell out and she froze “I haven’t heard from you in ages! How are the kids?” Dahyun sighed, the receptionist was just on the phone, she took this chance to stand up and walk out like a normal person but she bumped into someone on the way out

“Sorry!” she apologized throwing the stranger a bright smile

Wonwoo just looked at Dahyun and shook his head, he was not about to question anything right now, he came here with a purpose.

“Excuse me” he said as he reached the receptionist desk, the receptionist just told him to wait before going back to speaking on the phone, who even used the phone to talk anymore? This is the 21st century c’mon.

“How can I help you?” The receptionist finally asked Wonwoo after a good fifteen minutes of waiting

“I filed a petition to start a club like a week ago and I was wondering if they had the response already” Wonwoo spoke

“Name” the receptionist said in a monotonous tone 

“Jeon Wonwoo” he told the receptionist as she started going through a pile of papers set on top of her desk

“Here it is, let me see, petition to start a videogame club,mmm, denied” she put on a stamp with the word DENIED in red

“But why?” Wonwoo tried arguing

“Videogames kill your brain cells, now shoo, I was on the middle of an important call” the receptionist said before picking up the phone again, Wonwoo huffed and left.

“I got it!” Dahyun celebrated once she was outside and with her friends

“Great, now let’s go eat something, I’m starving” Chaeyoung said and started walking.

“So what do you think about the new members?” Sana asked Momo who was throwing grapes into the air and trying to catch them with her mouth, unsuccessfully. The two friends were sitting on the grass enjoying their lunch period together and away from the cafeteria chaos.

“I think they’re really good, they’ve got potential” Momo said finally shoving two grapes into her mouth, giving up with the throwing them in the air thing.

“Yeah, I think so too” Sana took one of Momo’s grapes and ate it

“I know you’re especially fond of Eunha” Momo teased Sana, her eyebrows going up and down

“She’s cute” Sana said, there was no point in denying something so obvious.

“Wait okay, so” Momo dropped her attention away from the grapes “Do you think Tzuyu will stay after the ‘trial’ month?” Momo said using her fingers to make air quotations as she said trial

“Well, she’s a fast learner from what I could gather yesterday so the skills are definitely there but I’m not sure though, Nayeon doesn’t seem too fond of her” Sana shrugged

“Why do you think she isn’t? I mean we barely know her” Momo asked what they both have been wondering

“She probably likes her” Sana said and the two of them laughed

“Yeah, right, Nayeon’s straighter than my hair” they laughed together again

Chaeyoung was rushing her way through the hallways, she had taken a bathroom detour during the break between classes and now she was running late so she was speed walking. She turned her head to look back because she heard someone calling her name, which caused her to collide against another body.

“Ow” she knew that voice

“Jeongyeon I am so sorry, I’m kinda in a rush” Chaeyoung said looking up at Jeongyeon. She had her hair up in a ponytail today and it made Chaeyoung’s heart go whoosh!

“I can see that, I’ll see you at rehearsal later” Jeongyeon said with a smile

“See you, bye!” Chaeyoung said and continued sprinting her way through the hallways, she didn’t even notice Nayeon was standing next to Jeongyeon the whole time.

“Was that piano girl?” Nayeon asked as the two kept walking

“Yup” Jeongyeon made a popping sound “Pretty, right?”

“She’s cute, doesn’t really make my heart skip a beat” like Tzuyu does, Nayeon thought but kept that one to herself “You two would make a cute couple”

“Do you think I’ve got a chance?” Jeongyeon sighed out hopefully

“Judging by the way she was looking at you, I’d say yes” Nayeon encouraged her friend

Dahyun was tossing and turning in bed making a creaking sound with every move

“Can you stop that?” a half asleep Tzuyu asked “some of us are trying to sleep” she finished saying from where she was laying on the floor.

“Sorry, I’m just anxious about later” Dahyun said

“Then let’s just go right now” Chaeyoung said standing up with decision “Or else we’ll get no sleep at all”

After all of Dahyun’s research and planning the three friends swiftly made their way inside the seemingly empty school.

“In and out like Flash” Dahyun said before using the stolen key to open the door that lead to the cooking club’s kitchen.

“The cheesecake must be in one of these fridges” Dahyun said standing in front of the tall fridges, they were a bit taller than Tzuyu, Dahyun opened the first one, nothing, she opened the next one

“Ah! There it is” Dahyun exclaimed quietly upon spotting the cheesecake “Quick Chaeyoung, help me up”

“How?” Chaeyoung really had no clue

“Put your hands like this” Dahyun exemplified with her own hands “and just push me up”

“I’m not doing that, YOU push me up” Chaeyoung crossed her arms

“C’mon Chae, help me out” Dahyun pleaded

“Use a stool, there’s no way me pushing you up is going to work out” Chaeyoung tried reasoning with her friend

“Guys…” Tzuyu said but neither of them paid her any mind

“There’s no time for that, you just need to” Dahyun made the motion she expected Chaeyoung to perform.

“Guys” Tzuyu repeated a bit louder this time

“And all you have to do is go get a stool” Chaeyoung said walking over to the desks and picking up one “see it’s not that hard now you jus-”

“Guys!” Tzuyu whispered-yelled

“What?!” Dahyun and Chaeyoung said at the same time, finally paying attention to Tzuyu

“Someone’s coming…” it was true, they could see the beam of a flashlight getting closer outside in the hallway. There were two door that led inside this kitchen, the one they came in through and the one the person with the flashlight was reaching to. Dahyun quickly got up on the stool while Chaeyoung held it, she handed the cheesecake to Tzuyu and got off the stool. The three were reaching for the door when the second door opened.

“Who’s there?” a man shouted as he got inside the kitchen.

Dahyun, Chaeyoung and Tzuyu wan out the door which closed with a loud thud behind them

“We are so busted” Tzuyu said under her breath as they ran through the hallway, followed closely behind by flashlight man

“Or maybe not” Dahyun said “stop” she said and leaned towards a locker, urging her friends to do the same, Dahyun put a finger against her lips asking them to stay quiet, as if they were going to speak.

The beam of light was getting closer by the millisecond and when it was about to focus on them Dahyun threw one of her shoes across the hall, its impact on the opposite row of lockers making the night guard turn his attention away from the three intruders giving them a chance to escape.

Soon enough the trio was back in Dahyun’s house happily eating cheesecake

“This really is so good” Dahyun said through a mouthful

“Yeah it iS!” Chaeyoung agreed, her mouth full of cheesecake too.

“We better not get caught” Tzuyu said cleaning the corners of her mouth with a napkin

“There’s no way we’re getting caught, relax and enjoy the cheesecake” Dahyun said before taking another bite of her cheesecake slice.


	6. If The Shoe Fits...

“Thanks for the pancakes Mrs. Kim” Tzuyu said happily as she started washing the dishes she had used on the kitchen sink

“Tzuyu how many times have I told you to drop the formalities? we’ve known each other for more than half of your life” Dahyun’s mom answered looking at Tzuyu with an endeared smile

“Sorry Mrs. K-” Tzuyu stopped herself, drying her hands with a towel now that she was done washing her dishes, Dahyun’s mom shook her head in amusement

“You girls better get going or you’ll be late” Dahyun’s mom urged “I made you this” she handed Dahyun a tupper with food

“Thanks mom, see you later” Dahyun said before giving her mom a kiss on the cheek

The three friends walked out of Dahyun’s house with a full stomach and a satisfied smile.

As Chaeyoung inched closer to the school, her friends pedaling by her side, the feeling of uneasiness inside of her grew bigger, guilt was eating her away.

“Hey guys, we don’t have anything to worry about” Dahyun stopped them in front of the entrance to the school’s parking lot. “Just act natural, they probably won’t notice the cheesecake is missing until after school and even then they have nothing to link us to it so we shouldn’t worry about it” Dahyun assured with a nod of her head, truth is, she was just as nervous as her friends that they would somehow get caught.

They walked into the school’s hallways as they did everyday, nothing seemed out of the ordinary so Chaeyoung let out a relieved sigh, maybe Dahyun was right and there was nothing to worry about

“Good morning girls” the school’s principal, Lee Sunmi, greeted the trio as she passed them by.

“GoOd mornINg Mrs. LEe” Dahyun greeted in a high pitched broken voice

“So much for acting natural” Chaeyoung commented laughing at her friend

“What do you mean? I CLEARLY nailed it” Dahyun answered

Dahyun was sitting comfortably on the last row of her fourth ‘period classroom, her body rested against the wall, looking out the window. World History was definitely not a subject Dahyun enjoyed. She just sat there listening to the many ways in which men fucked up since the beginning of time. Besides, Chaeyoung and Tzuyu were not in her class which made it suck a little more.

Finally the bell rang indicating the end of fourth period and the beginning of lunch. Dahyun waited a moment for some students to clear the classroom before taking her things and starting to make her way outside.

“Dahyun, wait!” the teacher stopped her before she could walk out the door.

Dahyun panicked and stopped all her movements, this was definitely not an ideal scenario, specially not after yesterday and specifically not considering the fact that her World History teacher was no other than Kim Yubin, yes, the one from who she stole yesterday.

“Yes Mrs. Kim” Dahyun answered once she was standing in front of the teacher’s desk

“I am concerned Dahyun” Yubin started and Dahyun waited patiently for her to continue but she didn’t, adding to Dahyun’s current distress.

“Eh?” Dahyun finally asked

“You’ve not been doing so good in my class” Dahyun silently sighed, this was not what she thought it’d be about “You’ve barely turned in any assignments, the only way for you not to fail this bimester is if you get a full score on the upcoming test, if you don’t I’m afraid I’ll have to assign you a tutor” Yubin finished

A tutor, Dahyun had been skeptical of those since middle school, no way that was ever going to happen, not if she could do anything about it.

“I’ll do well on the exam Mrs. Kim, thank you for your concern” Dahyun bowed and walked out of the classroom

“Just choose one Tzuyu, invisibility or super strength, it’s not that hard” Dahyun told Tzuyu impatiently since Tzuyu had been thinking about her answer for a solid five minutes.

“Don’t pressure me, I have to really think about this” Tzuyu explained

“Pick one already, there’s not too much to think about, it’s not like you’ll become a superhero or anything” Dahyun rolled her eyes.

Chaeyoung had been watching her friend’s interaction with a fond smile when she suddenly remembered, she forgot her Geography book in her locker. She got up to go get it, leaving her friends immersed in their pointless conversation.

She was walking calmly towards her locker, lunch period had barely just begun so she had time to go retrieve her book and still eat something after.

Chaeyoung reached her locker and fetched her key from her right pocket, as she was about to put it inside the lock it fell down. She crouched down to pick it up but something else caught her eye. There was a black notebook, half of it under the locker next to hers. She picked it up along with her key.

She examined the notebook for a moment, looking for a name so she could return it to the owner but she couldn’t find any so she opened her locker and tossed the notebook and her Geography book inside her backpack, she decided to take the notebook to the lost and found once school was over.

When Chaeyoung came back to the cafeteria, Tzuyu and Dahyun were still talking about this or that in terms of superpowers, they probably didn’t even notice Chaeyoung left at some point.

“Invisibility” Dahyun answered Tzuyu’s question quickly and confidently

“How can you choose invisibility over mind control? You didn’t even think about it!” Tzuyu reprimanded the older girl

“Invisibility sounds a lot more fun to me” Dahyun answered “I’m starving” Dahyun said then leaving no room for discussion.

“Didn’t your mom send you a tupper with food for lunch” Chaeyoung reminded Dahyun after taking a seat next to Tzuyu

“Ah! You’re right, she did” Dahyun said and fetched the tupper her mom had given her that morning, it had a label with her name on the lid and on the container itself, Dahyun happily digged in

“Yubin talked to me today” Dahyun said after noisily gulping down her food

“Oh no” Chaeyoung started “What did she say?!” Chaeyoung and Tzuyu held their breath, expecting the worst

“That I’m not doing too good on her class and if I don’t get a full score on the exam next week she’ll have to get me a tutor” Chaeyoung and Tzuyu breathed out with relief “A tutor, can you believe that? I don’t NEED a tutor, I’m Kim Dahyun” she finished before taking another bite of the food her mom had made for her.

“I still can’t believe you’re scared of tutors” Chaeyoung mocked

“I’m not scared of them, I just… don’t trust them” Dahyun shrugged

“Is it because of the cow thing?” Tzuyu asked and Dahyun just nodded

“Then how come you’re not scared of cows instead?” Chaeyoung wondered

“First of all, not scared, and secondly, the cow did nothing wrong, my tutor on the other side…” Dahyun said taking a sip of her soda and arching her eyebrows upwards

“It doesn’t make sense” Chaeyoung said

“No head swallowed by a cow in middle school, no opinion” Dahyun told her and put a stop to their current topic of conversation.

Tzuyu was in the dressing room getting ready for cheer practice, actually she was now just putting her stuff into her locker, ready to go out on the field, her new cheerleading uniform fitted her nicely, it was pretty and Tzuyu actually liked it.

“Tzuyu, Tzuyu, Tzuyu” Nayeon said resting her back against the lockers next to Tzuyu who just rolled her eyes.

“What do you want?” Tzuyu answered wanting this conversation to be over already

“Can’t I just have a conversation with one of my teammates?” Nayeon asked innocently

“I’m not in the mood for whatever shit you’re trying to pull so cut it off” Tzuyu said slamming her locker door shut

“I was just gonna tell you that your shirt is inside out” Nayeon told Tzuyu as she started walking away, Tzuyu turned around to face Nayeon.

“Well, luckily, that can be fixed easily” Tzuyu said and took off her shirt

Nayeon was trying to look away but if we’re being honest, she wasn’t trying that hard. She gulped

“Is this better?” Tzuyu asked after she put her shirt back on, correctly this time.

“Mhmm” was all that Nayeon could answer

Tzuyu then started walking to the field, deep in thought. Her previous actions were fueled by the anger Nayeon provoked inside of her. She was actually quite shy and not too confident about her looks even though everyone always told her how she was ‘oh so pretty’. But Nayeon angered her enough that her judgment got clouded.

“Everything alright Chaeng?” Jeongyeon asked, having noticed Chaeyoung was a bit out of it during rehearsal, Chaeyoung jumped startled by Jeongyeon’s sudden appearance  

“Eh? Yes, of course, why do you ask? What makes you think everything is not alright? It’s all perfectly fine” Chaeyoung rushed out quickly.

“Are you sure about that? You seem a little on edge” Jeongyeon pointed out

“I’m alright Jeong, don’t worry” Chaeyoung threw the older girl her best reassuring smile but Jeongyeon couldn’t help but feel like there was definitely something bothering the girl, if she didn’t want to tell her though, Jeongyeon had to respect that

“Do you like scary movies?” Jeongyeon asked as the two started walking out the door.

“Yeah, not my favorite genre but I do enjoy them, do you?” Chaeyoung answered

“I do, I’m having a horror movie marathon next Friday, I was wondering if you’d like to come? You can invite your friends if you want” Jeongyeon finished shyly

“Oh that sounds fun, count me in, and I’ll make sure to ask my friends” Chaeyoung smiled, they both said their goodbyes before parting ways

Chaeyoung was finally home after spending the whole afternoon at Dahyun’s house, she was ready to get into bed, she was just rummaging around her backpack, looking for her phone charger when the notebook she found earlier caught her eye, she forgot to leave it in the lost and found, she stared at it for a moment, curiosity might have killed the cat but well, she wasn’t a cat.

She started rummaging through its pages, it seemed to be full of poems or maybe song lyrics, Chaeyoung started reading it.

She read a few pages and there was one that she liked a lot, it was titled Love Line on the top of the page, one line specially caught Chaeyoung’s attention,it said: ‘I look at you and I still miss you’

It made Chaeyoung wonder how that was even possible, but then again she had never fallen in love so how would she know? She decided to read the rest some other time and just sleep for now.

Chaeyoung, Dahyun and Tzuyu walked through the doors that Friday morning and their attention was immediately caught by the principal talking through the speakers. None of the friends recalled ever hearing an announcement be made through the school speakers.

“Yesterday during the evening it came to our attention that something had been taken from the cooking club’s kitchen” the three friends froze on the spot after hearing those words

“The only lead we have is a shoe that was found in the hallways yesterday, which is why, in order to narrow down the suspects, everyone will have to try it on, if anyone has any information that could be usef-” they stopped listening after that and just shared worried glances with one another

“We’re screwed” Tzuyu broke the heavy silence that had settled between them.

“I don’t think so, their Cinderella hunt won’t really do much” Dahyun shrugged but she was lowkey nervous about the outcome of said hunt

“It doesn’t make sense” Tzuyu and Dahyun looked at Chaeyoung confused, not really sure which part didn’t make sense to her “Cinderella couldn’t have possibly been the only girl in the whole kingdom with that shoe size”

“It was a perfect fit” Dahyun reminded her friend

“Yet it slipped off, besides Cinderella is not that special” Chaeyoung stood her ground

“And neither am I so let’s not worry about it” Dahyun urged her friends as they continued walking through the hallways

“What do you think got stolen?” Momo asked her friends as they waited for Sana to retrieve her stuff from the locker

“No idea” Nayeon began “but it’s a kitchen, what would anyone want to steal from there?” she inquired

“Maybe someone is building a time machine and they needed the parts of a blender” Jeongyeon had the most vivid imagination out of the four and it definitely showed “Oh, or maybe a spaceship”

“Well whoever did it must’ve had their own reasons” Sana said closing her locker

“I don’t think they’re gonna get caught, not with a shoe as their only lead” Momo voiced her thoughts

“I kinda want whoever did it to get caught, I’m curious” Nayeon said

“Or maybe they wanted the pieces to build a teleporting machine!” Jeongyeon shouted and the others just ignored her, she wasn’t really saying anything important anyway.

“Well, we’ll see what happens, for now let’s get to class” Sana said

Dahyun’s leg was bouncing up and down, her pencil repeatedly hitting her notebook, there was no way Dahyun could focus on all the x’s and y’s on the board, not when her mind was preoccupied with thoughts of her getting caught.

They had started calling people for the shoe fitting a couple minutes after the class started and ever since, Dahyun’s mind just wasn’t focused on the class.

She heard a knock on the door and her eyes followed the old teacher as he answered the door, after a minute he walked back to the front of the class

“Kim Dahyun” the professor said and Dahyun stared blankly “Kim Dahyun” he repeated, wait, that’s me Dahyun thought

“Here” she raised her hand slightly to catch the teacher’s attention

“Mrs. Yubin wants to see you, she’s waiting for you outside” Dahyun thanked the Math teacher and walked outside the door

“Dahyun thanks for meeting me, let’s go talk to my office” Yubin greeted and immediately after, she started walking towards her office, followed by a worried Dahyun

Yubin took a seat on her chair and Dahyun did too in front of Yubin’s desk

“If this is about the tutor thing, with all due respect there’s no need for you to repeat yourself, I’ll do okay” Dahyun began even if deep down she had a feeling that this had nothing to do with her poor performance in History and everything to do with a certain stolen cheesecake.

“That’s not why I called you here” Yubin said and straightened a pen on her desk “As you must know, something was stolen from the cooking club” Dahyun tried her hardest to remain stoic

“Mmm yeah, that’s what I heard this morning” Dahyun answered as calmly as she could

“Well something tells me you know exactly what was taken and HOW it was taken” Yubin said looking straight into Dahyun, who, for obvious reasons, was avoiding eye contact

“I don’t know what you’re talking about Mrs.” Dahyun knew there was no way Yubin could’ve found out she did it

“I know you do, wanna know how I know?” Yubin didn’t even wait for Dahyun to say anything before continuing “The shoe they found, it has a small label with your name on it, so do you want to start talking now…?” Dahyun internally cursed her mom’s obsession with labeling every single thing Dahyun owned and used for school

“Fine yes, I stole the cheesecake” Dahyun admitted ashamed, looking down as she played with the hem of her shirt. “am I getting expelled? or worse, going to jail?” Dahyun asked seriously worried now about the consequences this could have

“You know” Yubin started as she stood up and walked to the front of her desk, resting against it “if it weren’t for your shoe you never would’ve gotten caught, there’s absolutely no footage on the security cameras, it’s quite impressive”

“Thanks?” Dahyun was confused, was Yubin complimenting her or…? “Am I gonna get in trouble?”

“Look Dahyun, I like you, you’re a good kid, so I’ll give you two choices, but first tell me, did you work alone?” Dahyun pondered for a moment, she should probably cover for her friends “And don’t lie to me” okay, maybe not…

“I didn’t” Dahyun confessed

“Okay so your two choices, either you go confess what you did and I get to decide what punishment to give you or, I go to Sunmi myself, tell her what I know and you and your accomplices potentially get expelled, you pick”

“If I go confess will you tell my parents?” Dahyun asked worried, this really hadn’t been her brightest idea and it definitely wasn’t something she’d want her parents to find out about.

“No, I think you’ve learned your lesson, but if you leave it up to Sunmi I can’t promise anything”

“And about my friends, I don’t think their punishment should be the same as mine, it was my idea after all” Dahyun still tried to advocate for her friends, that’s just the type of person she was.

“If you confess I’ll keep that in mind, you can leave now” Yubin told Dahyun who started walking towards the door “And Dahyun,” Yubin said making Dahyun stop to look at her “You’re smart, start making better decisions” Dahyun nodded, she surely would keep that in mind.

Dahyun could not stop thinking about this whole situation, confessing to their crime was the obvious choice, sure Yubin was intimidating, but at least she seemed rather chill about this situation, maybe she wouldn’t be so harsh with them. Dahyun’s mind was made up, now all that was left to do was the hardest parts; telling her friends and confessing.

“I have to tell you something” Dahyun spoke after the three of them had taken a seat on one of the cafeteria desks

“Oh no, she’s acting all serious” Chaeyoung pointed out

“This can’t be good” Tzuyu agreed

“It’s terrible actually” Chaeyoung said, Dahyun just looked at them

“Oh, you’re SERIOUS serious” Tzuyu said and waited for Dahyun to say something. A serious Dahyun was a rare sight and honestly speaking not such a good augury

“I know I said we wouldn’t get caught but surprise! we got caught” Dahyun said waving her hands by her sides

“What do you mean we got caught?!” Chaeyoung asked after having almost choked on her food

Dahyun informed them of the whole situation, Yubin’s choices, the labeled shoe, everything

“Well, we can’t postpone the unavoidable” Tzuyu stood up as she spoke “Let’s go”

When they arrived at Sunmi’s office door they found that, unsurprisingly, Yubin was there with her. Dahyun knocked three times

“Come in” Sunmi shouted from inside and once the three students were inside she asked “What brings you girls here?” she offered them a kind smile

“WE WERE THE ONES WHO STOLE THE CHEESECAKE!” Chaeyoung shouted and felt an instant wave of relief pass through her

There was a prolonged silence after Chaeyoung shouted in which no one was exactly sure what to say

“Something of this magnitude can result in your immediate expulsion from this institution, you know that, right?” Sunmi said and Yubin whispered something in her ear

They talked in whispers back and forth for quite a few minutes, the three girls were desperately trying to figure out what was being said but they couldn’t make out a single word

“Yubin and I have decided that, given the fact that this was a robbery directly linked to her, she’ll handle things her way. I hope you three learned something and if you ever do something like this again, I won’t hesitate to have you expelled” Sunmi finished and the girls nodded

They all walked together towards Yubin’s office dreading their upcoming punishment, at least they weren’t getting expelled. Out of the three, Dahyun was the one who felt less worried because she knew Yubin wouldn’t be so harsh on them, at least that’s the impression she gave Dahyun earlier in her office.

“I can’t believe they would actually give us jail time” Tzuyu said as the three of them walked out of Yubin’s office

“I mean, not only did we steal, we were also trespassing” Chaeyoung informed her friends just in case they had forgotten

“Well, the good thing is, none of us are going to jail” Dahyun said effectively shutting down all of her friend’s what ifs

“We’re still getting detention” Chaeyoung pouted, a week of detention meant a week of no music club which meant… no Jeongyeon

“It could be worse” Tzuyu started trying to assure Chaeyoung “we could be Dahyun” Tzuyu shook her shoulders as if a shiver had ran up and down her spine.

“You’re right, that’s always worse” Chaeyoung answered and she and Tzuyu laughed as Dahyun crossed her arms

“Real talk, I’m really sorry guys, it’s my fault we got caught” Dahyun apologized to her friends, her previously crossed arms dropping by her sides

“Nah, it’s cool” Chaeyoung assured her pale friend

“Yeah, it’s not like you forced us to do it” Tzuyu shrugged

“Besides, your punishment is worse, like way worse” Chaeyoung started “no hard feelings” she shook Dahyun’s hand, the older girl just smiled brightly at her friends, she really was so lucky to have them.

How was Tzuyu going to explain to Nayeon that she was gonna be absent for a whole week without actually telling her about detention? When she arrived at the field she spotted Sana sitting on the bleachers, lucky for Tzuyu, she was alone.

“Hey Sana” Tzuyu called the older girl as she walked up the bleachers to reach her

“Hey Tzuyu, you’re early” Sana made an observation

“Wouldn’t risk being late with how Nayeon got that one time I was” Tzuyu let out a humorless chuckle

“Yeah… she can get a little intense when it comes to cheerleading” Sana gave Tzuyu a sympathetic smile

“Which is why I wanted to talk to you since you’re like the second in charge of the squad or whatever” Tzuyu went straight to the point and Sana nodded urging her to continue

“Well the thing is, I’ve got detention all week next week, so I’m not gonna come to practice” Tzuyu scratched the back of her neck, she really hoped Sana did not ask why she got detention because that was not something she wanted to go around sharing.

“Oh that is definitely something you should tell Nayeon” Sana said

“Can’t you tell her instead?” Tzuyu tried

“I could but, you should tell her yourself out of, you know, politeness” Sana suggested, smile still on her face 

“Yeah, I know” Tzuyu half smiled

“Hey Jeong” Chaeyoung said after she and the older had been walking in silence for a bit

“Yes?” Jeongyeon said

“So I may or may not have gotten a week of detention which means I won’t be able to attend rehearsals next week” Chaeyoung finished saying and took a deep breath

“Damn” Jeongyeon her head to look at Chaeyoung “What did you do?”

“Well…” Chaeyoung began but was cut off

“Wait, don’t tell me you were the one who stole from the kitchen” Jeongyeon inquired and Chaeyoung remained silent

“I can’t believe this” Jeongyeon shook her head “so what did you steal?”

“A cheesecake” Chaeyoung admitted

“Really? Wow that’s, wow, and about rehearsals, don’t worry, you can practice your parts at home” Jeongyeon smiled

“Yeah, we’re not gonna see each other though” Chaeyoung tried to keep a neutral voice so Jeongyeon wouldn’t hear how upset about it she actually was

“We’ll see each other around, don’t worry, besides next Friday is the movie marathon” they had finally reached the parking lot “Are you sure you don’t want me to drive you?” Jeongyeon offered once again

“No, it’s okay, Dahyun’s probably waiting for me” Chaeyoung smiled at Jeongyeon

“In that case, I guess this is goodbye” Jeongyeon told the short girl

“No need to be so dramatic” Chaeyoung said letting out a giggle, the two parted ways after

“Where’s Tzuyu?” Dahyun asked as soon as she saw Chaeyoung

“Uh, I don’t know, I thought she’d be here already” Chaeyoung locked eyes with Dahyun and they both shrugged after a moment.

It was now or never, Tzuyu was giving herself a pep talk as she stood on the middle of the soccer field, watching as Nayeon out her things away and into her cheerleading bag by the bleachers, Tzuyu took a deep breath.

“Nayeon” Tzuyu said standing in front of her. Nayeon’s gaze shifted from her bag to a pair of white Vans to a pair of tan legs until it finally landed on Tzuyu’s angelic face, Nayeon was definitely not expecting this.

“Tzuyu” she answered from where she was crouching on the floor, quickly diverting her attention back to what she was doing before

“Uh, I’m not gonna be able to attend practice next week, I hope that’s okay…” Tzuyu said

“Oh, it’s totally okay” Tzuyu sighed in relief when she heard Nayeon say those words, this was easier than she thought “In fact, if you’re just gonna skip a whole week, why not drop out of the squad altogether, how’s that for an alternative?” Tzuyu’s previous feeling of relief flew out the window

“What? No way, but I have detention, there’s nothing I can do about that” Tzuyu explained

“Hmm, I see” Nayeon started, finally sipping her bag and throwing it over her shoulder as she stood up facing Tzuyu “In that case you’re coming over to my house next week after detention to practice, I’m not letting you get away with your evil scheme” Nayeon finished and Tzuyu’s head tilted in confusion

“What evil scheme?” Tzuyu asked her face showing her genuine confusion

“Uh” Nayeon had to think of something, quickly “Your plan to, ummm, sabotage my cheer squad, yes! that’s right, that’s it” Nayeon gave herself a mental pat on the back, good thinking

“Sabo- I’m not trying to sabotage anything!” Tzuyu tried defending herself

“See” Nayeon pointed a finger in Tzuyu’s direction and narrowed her eyes “that’s exactly what a sabotager would say” she accused

Tzuyu shook her head to get rid of the thought that Nayeon was being completely adorable right now.

“Whatever, I just thought I’d let you know” Tzuyu started walking away “Goodbye Nayeon” she said already a couple steps away from the older girl

“Goodbye Tzuyu! Have a terrible weekend” Nayeon shouted hoping Tzuyu would hear her since the tall girl was already halfway across the soccer field

And Tzuyu did hear her and she couldn’t stop the smile forming on her face, Nayeon may be annoying, rude even, but she was so childish and adorable at times that Tzuyu was left with no other option but to crack a small, sincere smile.


	7. The Tale of an Angry Librarian

“You know I was thinking” Dahyun started sitting on a desk in the classroom where detention was held, Chaeyoung on the desk beside her and Tzuyu in front.

“Oh no” Tzuyu said turning around to look at Dahyun, her attention driven away from studying for a moment “not again” she joked and turned around again, her back now visible to Dahyun.

“Rude but okay, imma just go ahead and say it” Dahyun declared, Chaeyoung looking at her from the corner of her eyes.

Chaeyoung had been drawing in her sketchbook the whole time they’d been there so Dahyun was grateful that she got at least a little bit of her attention.

“I heard rumors that Mrs. Kang lost her glasses, you know the ones to see from afar, so I thought we could totally escape through the ventilation duct if we’re quiet enough” she finished with a nod

“I can’t believe you’re looking for new ways to get in trouble WHILE in detention” Tzuyu turned around to look at Dahyun yet again.

“Besides, there’s no way that actually works” Chaeyoung said, her eyes not drifting away from her sketchbook. “That only ever happens in movies” Chaeyoung finished

“I was just saying” Dahyun shrugged her shoulders “How long have we been here anyway?”

“Uh…” Chaeyoung checked the time on her phone “Fifteen minutes” Dahyun groaned and let her head fall dramatically on top of her desk.

Dahyun was standing in the middle of the street, or more like, in the middle of what she supposed once was a street. The scene before her was absolute chaos, it looked almost post-apocalyptic.

The sound of a nearby explosion startled Dahyun, she turned around to the sound only to watch as a building came falling down in pieces. A strange spider looking creature emerged from the rubble and as it came closer Dahyun made out that it was a robotic spider, it’s red eyes focused on Dahyun as it started gaining speed and moving towards her.

“Get behind me” Dahyun heard someone say, their face was hidden by a mask but her ears didn’t betray her, that was definitely Tzuyu.

As the robot spider was about to reach them Tzuyu punched it and sent it flying into the sky, Dahyun’s mouth opened wide.

“Are you alright?” Tzuyu asked before turning around “Why do you look so surprised? It’s not like you haven’t seen me do this before” Tzuyu said and Dahyun was speechless because, in fact, she had actually never seen Tzuyu do this before

“Go hide in there, quickly, I’ll come get you once things calm down” Dahyun couldn’t do anything but nod and start running to where Tzuyu had told her to.

She was running as quickly as she could, not entirely sure of what was going on, she suddenly felt a sharp sting on her lower back, the pain knocked her down but she kept moving however she could, her vision started getting blurry until everything went black and her body couldn’t move anymore, she could still hear everything around her but the sound kept getting weaker and weaker until she eventually stopped listening.

“Hey! Wake up! Wake up!” Dahyun heard Tzuyu’s desperate voice and jolted awake, her body quickly sitting up, she was panting and sweating, she quickly looked around at her surroundings only to find she was still in detention, she frowned

“You’re finally awake, I’ve been trying to wake you up for ages” Tzuyu said once Dahyun had calmed down.

“Did you have a nightmare?” Chaeyoung asked as Dahyun picked up her backpack

Dahyun thought about it for a moment, she wanted to tell her friends about the dream, it felt as reals as the one in which she was an idol, but they didn’t believe that, how were they supposed to believe this one?

“Nah, I was just startled by how suddenly I woke up, that’s all” she lied but the scenes from her ‘dream’ were still replaying in her mind.

“Well, I gotta yeet myself out of here” Dahyun said once they made it out the door “Duty calls and by duty I mean dishwashing” Dahyun pouted

“It’s what you deserve” Chaeyoung teased, additionally to Dahyun’s month of detention, she’d also have to wash all the dishes the cooking club used daily for a month as well.

“I gotta go too” Tzuyu said and left without an explanation, leaving Chaeyoung alone in the hallway.

Tzuyu was walking in circles through the parking lot, holding her bicycle besides her, Nayeon had told Tzuyu to meet her at the parking lot, but she never specified where so Tzuyu was just wandering about until she spotted Sana and Momo making their way through the parking lot.

“Sana, Momo! Tzuyu said effectively catching Sana and Momo’s attention

“Hey Tzuyu” Sana answered with her always polite smile plastered on her face while Momo just nodded.

“I’m supposed to meet up with Nayeon but, she didn’t really tell me where so I was wondering if you had any clue where she might be” Tzuyu finished flashing the two friends an apologetic smile.

“Well she usually parks her car by the football field, I’m sure you’ll find her there” Tzuyu nodded and thanked Sana for the information.

Surely enough, Tzuyu spotted Nayeon by her car near the football field, she was putting her duffel bag and her backpack on the inside of her trunk. Tzuyu slightly sped up her pace, her bicycle rolling besides her.

“Hey” Tzuyu said once she was a few steps away from Nayeon who turned to look at her briefly before shutting her trunk.

“Follow me with your bike” Nayeon said before starting to make her way over to the driver’s seat of her car.

“But-” Tzuyu began to protest but was quickly cut off by Nayeon.

“Think of it as warm up” was the last thing Nayeon said before getting into her car, leaving no place for Tzuyu to complain any further. Tzuyu huffed, she could only hope Nayeon’s house wasn’t too far away.

The sight that welcomed Dahyun once she made it to the kitchen was Yubin leaning against a work station, with her arms crossed in front of her chest.

“Took you long enough” Yubin spoke as some form of greeting

“Sorry Mrs. Kim, I fell asleep in detention” Dahyun didn’t know why she was explaining herself.

“If you want my advice you should use that time in detention to study for your History test” Yubin suggested Dahyun who just nodded

“Well” Yubin said straightening up “Kitchen’s all yours, make sure you lock it up once you’re done and return my keys” Yubin said handing Dahyun a single key with a star shaped keychain attached to it. Dahyun took it and nodded, time to start working, she thought.

“Ready to go?” Jeongyeon asked leaning against her car.

“Yep” Chaeyoung said folding her bicycle as Jeongyeon opened the back door for her to put it inside.

“How was detention?” Jeongyeon asked once the two were settled inside the car.

“Uneventful really, I spent all of it doodling” Chaeyoung shrugged even though Jeongyeon wouldn’t see her.

“Oh, I didn’t know you liked drawing” Jeongyeon said, her words laced with evident surprise.

“I love it, I wanna major in something that has to do with it” Chaeyoung smiled and Jeongyeon glimpsed at her now that they had stopped at a red light, Son Chaeyoung was a girl full of surprises.

“You have to show me your drawings some time!” Jeongyeon said excitedly “If you want to of course…” Jeongyeon put the car in motion again now that the light had turned green.

“Yeah, maybe someday I’ll show you” Chaeyoung answered “What are you going to major in once you go to college?” Chaeyoung wondered

“Well I’m torn between Music Production and Literature, but one of them for sure” Jeongyeon now quickly glances at the GPS to make sure she was going on the right direction.

“Either of them sound really cool and I’m sure you’re gonna rock it in whatever you end up doing” Chaeyoung said with a smile

“Thanks” Jeongyeon shyly answered

Honestly, Chaeyoung’s house was rather far and completely out of Jeongyeon’s usual route but the older girl didn’t mind it at all because this way she got to spend some quality time with Chaeyoung.

They finally made it to Nayeon’s house and Tzuyu was covered in sweat from head to toe. The older’s house wasn’t that far away from school but it had been exhausting to try keeping up with the speed at which Nayeon was driving.

Tzuyu almost finished her whole bottle of water while Nayeon retrieved her bags from her trunk. Tzuyu noticed Nayeon was almost at the front door so she dropped her bicycle and walked over to her.

Once Nayeon opened the door, she was reminded that her parents were both out of town and Kookeu was in a dog hotel which essentially meant Nayeon was completely alone with Tzuyu, maybe this wasn’t Nayeon’s brightest idea.

“You can leave your backpack there” Nayeon pointed to the floor besides the door and Tzuyu dropped it there.

“Change into your uniform and then we can start” Nayeon told Tzuyu as they walked into the living room.

“I- I didn’t bring it, I didn’t know I would need it” Tzuyu finished and she watched as Nayeon let out a huge sigh of annoyance.

“What did you think we were gonna do here? Knit scarves and drink tea?” she rolled her eyes “I’ll lend you some sport clothes, wait here and don’t touch anything” Nayeon said before walking out of the living room.

Tzuyu was only now realizing that they seemed to be alone here, perhaps Nayeon was planning her murder, here, in her own home, while there were no witnesses. Tzuyu shook her head, that was one dumb thought.

Tzuyu’s eyes were wandering all over the house, it wasn’t huge but it wasn’t small either, the walls were painted a shade of green, her eyes eventually landed on a wall full of framed pictures. Tzuyu wanted to walk over there to get a better look at them but Nayeon had told her not to move and the last thing she wanted was to piss the older girl off. She was in the middle of an inner debate when she heard Nayeon walking down the stairs. Without a word Nayeon handed Tzuyu the clothes. Tzuyu looked at her for a moment.

“Where should I get changed?” Tzuyu wondered

“The bathroom is down the hall to the right” Nayeon answered without showing any emotion

Tzuyu came out of the bathroom now wearing a pair of black leggings and a white sleeveless shirt, property of Im Nayeon.

“I’m ready” Tzuyu spoke from behind Nayeon

“Follow me” Nayeon said as she walked further into the living room until they stopped in front of a sliding door that led to Nayeon’s backyard, it was a very nice backyard if you ask Tzuyu.

“First thing you need to do is stretching and some basic warm up” Nayeon said once the two were standing in the middle of the garden

“But you said riding my bike was warm up” Tzuyu pointed out

“I lied now follow my lead” Nayeon said

“Of course you did” Tzuyu mumbled to herself

“What did you say?” Nayeon said as she started stretching her arms

“Nothing, nothing” Tzuyu answered and started imitating Nayeon’s moves

After stretching and warming up Nayeon started walking Tzuyu through the routine they’d perform at regionals, she was actually impressed by how fast Tzuyu was learning.

But of course not everything could be perfect as Tzuyu tripped, her body practically flying towards Nayeon, eventually landing on top of her. Tzuyu opened her eyes only to find Nayeon’s impossibly close, their noses brushing, for a moment both girls held their breath

“Get off me!” Nayeon said pushing Tzuyu off her by the shoulders. Tzuyu landed with a thud on the grass beside Nayeon, she quickly sat up. Her heart was pounding harder than usual for some reason.

“I’m sorry” Tzuyu tried apologizing only to be ignored by Nayeon who wasn’t even looking at her

“I think that’s enough for today, you know where the door is” Nayeon said sitting on the grass with her legs stretched out. Tzuyu got up and started walking away “And don’t forget to wash my clothes before returning them” Nayeon added before Tzuyu finally walked out the door, her mind still trying to process the events that just took place.

Chaeyoung closed her Geography notebook, she had just finished studying for tomorrow’s test. She spotted the notebook she found the other day lying on her desk. She took it and kept reading. Some pages only had a sentence, others were covered with random thought, Chaeyoung found the notebook very interesting.

Chaeyoung finally landed on a page that had Lalala written on top as Chaeyoung’s eyes wandered over the words written with black pen, she thought those were definitely song lyrics. After she finished reading, and almost involuntarily, Chaeyoung started drawing on her sketchbook, trying to plaster the things she was feeling due to the words she just read.

Tuesday had been uneventful for the three friends, once again Chaeyoung got a ride from Jeongyeon, Dahyun washed dishes and Tzuyu didn’t have to deal with Nayeon since she canceled their extra practice for some reason.

Dahyun should’ve kept in mind that there’s always calm before the storm, but she forgot that small detail. It all started going downhill for her early Wednesday morning when, once in school, she noticed she forgot her backpack at home.

“I can’t believe you forgot a whole backpack, how does that even happen?” Chaeyoung said as they made a stop at Tzuyu’s locker.

“I bet she’d forget her head if it wasn’t glued to her body” Tzuyu commented before she continued retrieving books from her locker.

“That’s just plain rude, show some respect for the elders” Dahyun said shaking her head

“At least you’re ready for your History exam, right?” Chaeyoung thought that would make things better but oh boy was she wrong.

Dahyun slapped her forehead with her right hand “Crap! I forgot that was today, I’m gonna fail” Dahyun let out a sigh

“Be a little more positive” Chaeyoung told her friend as if she was the most optimistic person herself

“I’m positive I’ll fail” Dahyun slouched her shoulders

“Not like that but okay” Chaeyoung said as Tzuyu closed her locker and the three of them started walking

“Getting a tutor is not that bad, it could actually help you, you know...” Tzuyu tried making Dahyun look at the bright side of her situation.

“Tutor’s suck but it’s okay, it’ll be the universe’s way of punishing my forgetful ass and I shall accept it” Dahyun finished making her friends laugh, she just had a funny way of saying things even when she was being serious right now.

Jeongyeon was currently at the school’s library searching for the book she had to read for her Art History class, she forgot the name so she was just going through every book hoping it’d come back to her.

She finally spotted it, on the top shelf, she couldn’t reach it standing on her tiptoes so she put both her feet on the bottom shelf in order to get the book, she pulled it out but it was too tight which caused all the other books in the shelf to come falling down which resulted in Jeongyeon losing her balance eventually causing the whole bookshelf to fall down, thankfully another bookshelf prevented it from crushing Jeongyeon to death.

She successfully crawled out of under the pile of books, the one book she was trying to get now lost in the mess.

“What is going on?” Jeongyeon heard the librarian yell as she got closer, finally coming face to face with both Jeongyeon and the mess “You” she pointed at Jeongyeon whose first instinct was to start running away.

She made it out the doors and spotted Nayeon, who had been waiting for her outside this whole time.

“Run!” Jeongyeon yelled as she sprinted past her best friend. Nayeon started running, no questions asked. Jeongyeon looked behind her back and surely the librarian was coming after her.

“Why are we running?” Nayeon asked just as Jeongyeon started speeding up

“Jeongyeon, why are we running?!” Nayeon asked again as they took a turn to the right

“I pissed off the librarian and she’s coming after me” Jeongyeon explained and Nayeon made a sudden stop

“Then why am I running?” Nayeon made sure to emphasize the word I, Jeongyeon came to a stop too

“Out of solidarity?” Jeongyeon tried

“Nah, I don’t deal with the librarian, you know that” Nayeon placed a hand on Jeongyeon’s shoulder “Sorry but you’re on your own for this one” Meaning, this time Nayeon wouldn’t get her out of trouble

The two friends turned their heads when they heard heavy footsteps approaching, then they both looked at each other

“Good luck” Nayeon told Jeongyeon as the taller started running away again

Jeongyeon thanked her long legs right now as they gave her some sort of advantage. She turned left on a hallway but was forced to stop when her body collided with someone else’s making her tumble backwards.

“I’m so sorry, are you alright?” Jeongyeon asked the unknown girl

“I’m fine, wait, you’re Jeongyeon” the girl told her

“I am, I have to go now, sorry again” Jeongyeon continued running

“Wait!” the girl shouted as she started running after Jeongyeon, eventually making it to her side

“Are you running away from someone?” the girl inquired

“Yeah, I’m running away from a very angry librarian” Jeongyeon answered quickly peeking behind only to find she was still being chased

“I know the perfect hiding spot, follow me” and Jeongyeon did, what did she have to lose? The girl led her to a tiny space in between a set of stairs and the wall

“Get in there, I’ll cover you” she urged Jeongyeon and soon enough the librarian passed running in front of them but she didn’t see them, or at least she didn’t see Jeongyeon

“Coast clear” the girl stepped away so Jeongyeon could come out from her hiding spot.

“Thank you so much, I owe you one” Jeongyeon said and finally took an actual look at the girl “Do I know you?”

“I don’t think we’ve met but I’m friends with Chaeyoung…” Dahyun was unsure what to say and Jeongyeon was silent as she tried to recall Chaeyoung mentioning a friend

“Ah, you must be Dahyun right?” Jeongyeon finally said

“Yeah, how did you guess I was Dahyun?” Dahyun asked because she thought Jeongyeon could’ve also mistaken her for Tzuyu

“Uuuh well you’re the only friend Chaeyoung has mentioned so there really weren’t many options” Jeongyeon answered Dahyun’s question honestly

“That’s odd” Dahyun mumbled to herself, inaudible to Jeongyeon “Well it was great meeting you, bye”

“Bye” Dahyun heard Jeongyeon say as she walked away

Well this definitely wasn’t the way Dahyun expected to be spending her lunch period but at least she finally got to meet Jeongyeon, though one thing was bothering her, Jeongyeon said Chaeyoung only ever mentioned her, which Dahyun couldn’t understand, Chaeyoung was supposed to set Tzuyu up with Jeongyeon so why had she not even mentioned her? It didn’t make sense to Dahyun but she’d have to worry about that later, right now she needed to focus on studying at least for a little while before the History exam took place once lunch period was over.

Dahyun took a seat on the grass just outside one of the school’s buildings and opened her History notebook, she started going over her notes but her head really wasn’t in it. She looked up for a moment and saw her crush sitting under a tree not too far away from where she was sitting. She was playing on a Nintendo Switch, she looked extra focused and Dahyun found that adorable.

Dahyun closed her notebook shut, she kept looking over at her crush, admiring her from afar would do Dahyun no good, it was now or never, her crush was alone and there was no one around so Dahyun started working up the courage to introduce herself to the girl.

She got up and started walking towards her crush, her heartbeat getting quicker with every step, her hands sweating like crazy, her throat was starting to feel dry.

“Hey, you’re Kim Dahyun right?” a girl a few centimeters taller than Dahyun intercepted her

“Right, why?” Dahyun just wanted to tell this person off, she was about to talk to the love of her life for the first time

“I’m in charge of the school’s newspaper and we want to write a story about your cheesecake con for this week’s issue and I was wondering if you could give us an interview?” the girl finished with a big smile

“No thanks, you’ll have to write about something else” Dahyun answered as politely as she could before walking past the girl only to find out her crush was already gone, this really wasn’t her day. Dahyun sighed, maybe some other time.

The bell that announced the end of lunch period rang and Dahyun felt defeated. It was time to face her World History exam

She was walking past Yubin’s desk when the teacher asked her “Ready for the exam?” a question to which Dahyun answered by giving her teacher two thumbs up and a fake smile.

Dahyun sat at her usual spot and watched as Yubin handed out the exams. Once she gave Dahyun hers she felt relieved for a moment since everything was multiple choice.

It was once she started reading the questions that she felt like she was going to cry, she honestly couldn’t remember anything but it was okay, it was her fault anyway. She should’ve studied, she just hoped for the best as she started picking random answers in order not to leave her exam blank.


	8. Movie Nights and Questionable Alibis

As Jeongyeon was walking away from Dahyun she was thinking about how lucky she was to have escaped the scary librarian. But of course, Jeongyeon’s luck was nothing but an illusion as she found the librarian waiting for her after making a turn on the hallway.

“You’re coming with me young lady” the librarian sentenced and since Jeongyeon didn’t want to test her luck any further she reluctantly followed the woman.

Rearranging books was a harder task than Jeongyeon initially thought and the librarian made her promise she’d come back after school to finish putting everything back in place.

Tzuyu wasn’t stupid, she was actually quite smart, top of her class, which is why she didn’t bring her bike to school today. Nayeon was now forced to drive her, it couldn’t go wrong.

As Tzuyu was walking towards Nayeon she watched her struggle trying to get her stuff inside her trunk, a smile unconsciously made its way towards Tzuyu’s lips. The fierce cheerleader Nayeon was replaced by a clumsy one and it was endearing to Tzuyu. But as usual Nayeon was quick to ruin it.

“Why are you staring, creep?” Nayeon’s words came out with less impact than she expected as the trunk closed down on her head before she was done, making Tzuyu let out a faint laugh.

“I wasn’t staring” Tzuyu stared at her “now I am” Nayeon rolled her eyes as she properly closed the trunk, rubbing her injured head after.

“Anyway… where’s your bike?” Nayeon asked a still staring Tzuyu

“I didn’t bring it” Tzuyu said and gave Nayeon her brightest smile.

“Mmm… then you walk” Nayeon said and walked towards the driver’s seat, ignoring Tzuyu’s calls behind her.

“Nayeon!” Tzuyu said hitting the girl’s window slightly trying to catch her attention, she heard Nayeon start her car “Nayeon!” she repeated her previous action.

“Yes?” Nayeon asked after rolling down her window, throwing Tzuyu a smug smile that, Tzuyu hated to admit, was quite attractive. She quickly got rid of that thought though, she shouldn’t be thinking like that about her best friend’s crush.

“You’re not seriously gonna make me walk to your house…” Tzuyu said and Nayeon’s expression changed into one that screamed ‘oh but I am’

“We’ll waste practice time” Tzuyu tried reasoning, she figured walking to the older’s house would take thirty to forty five minutes if she were to walk.

“Fine, but go in the backseat, I don’t want you near me” Nayeon said rolling up her window

“Why do you treat me as if I’m some kind of plague?” Tzuyu asked once she was sitting on the middle seat, her face popping up the front besides Nayeon’s, like a little kid asking her mom to buy McDonald’s for lunch.

“What?” Nayeon asked since she didn’t quite get what Tzuyu meant with that question

“Yeah, it’s like you can’t stand being near me and when I am you either push me away or” Tzuyu suddenly closed the distance between her face and Nayeon’s making the older flinch and move her head away “do exactly that” Nayeon took a breath

“Please put on your seatbelt” she said avoiding Tzuyu’s question

“Aw, you care about me” Tzuyu said moving backwards and buckling her seatbelt

“Don’t flatter yourself, I don’t, it’s just that if you die while I’m driving I’d go to jail, now stop talking before I kick you out of this car” Nayeon said effectively shutting down their conversation

Tzuyu smiled while looking out the window, she was beginning to notice how easy and how entertaining it was to mess with Nayeon’s fake hatred towards her. Because she was sure Nayeon didn’t hate her as much as she pretended she did.

Chaeyoung practically sprinted out of detention that day, she didn’t even bother to put her sketchbook away, she was just eager to see Jeongyeon, not like she would ever admit it.

Just as she was reaching Jeongyeon she began to fumble with her sketchbook, trying to get it inside her bag with such a quick movement that it went flying away and landed by Jeongyeon’s feet. Jeongyeon bent down to pick it up.

“Is this your sketchbook?” Jeongyeon asked and Chaeyoung answered with a nod

“You should be more careful with it” Jeongyeon suggested handing it to Chaeyoung, there was a hint of nostalgia in Jeongyeon’s voice

“Why do you sound so nostalgic?” Chaeyoung asked the other girl who laughed a little

“I lost an important notebook a while ago” she answered as both girls got inside the car

“What was in it?” Chaeyoung asked curiously

“A bunch of poems, song lyrics, random thought, that kind of stuff you know?” Jeongyeon explained and suddenly Chaeyoung’s mind came to a realization

“Yeah, I know” in fact, Chaeyoung probably knew more than she should. A feeling of guilt settled upon her.

“Have you, uh, looked for it?” Chaeyoung inquired and felt dumb right after, if it was important to her of course she already looked for it

“Yeah, everywhere but it’s like it simply vanished” Jeongyeon answered disappointed which only helped fuel Chaeyoung’s guilt

“Did you look through the Lost and Found?” Chaeyoung asked hoping the answer would be no so she could put it there tomorrow morning

“Yeah, that’s the first place I looked actually” Jeongyeon answered not losing focus on her driving

“Well it never hurts to look again” Chaeyoung said and what sounded like a friendly suggestion to Jeongyeon was actually Chaeyoung’s attempt at returning the notebook to help ease her guilt.

“Yeah, maybe I should” Jeongyeon smiled making Chaeyoung smile too

Dahyun hesitated before entering her History classroom, she was always hesitant when going into that class because everyday she debated whether she should just skip it or not. This Thursday however, her hesitation was due to the fact that Mrs. Kim would be handing out their graded tests. She figured running away would be of no help so she just went ahead and took a seat on the last row.

Dahyun could see Yubin's lips moving but she was literally blocking any sound, she was trying to calm herself down, anything that happened was on her. She watched as Yubin called students to her desk individually, she tried to refocus so she could hear when her name was called.

“Kim Dahyun!” Dahyun took a breath, this was it, the moment of truth, she walked up to Yubin's desk ready to face her destiny

“Dahyun” Yubin began and Dahyun couldn’t decipher her expression “You did surprisingly better than I thought you would” Dahyun wasn’t sure if that was a compliment so she opted for staying quiet

“But sadly it was not enough” Dahyun already knew she hadn’t made it so she really wasn’t surprised

“Your overall grade is 6.8 but I can make that a seven” seven was the approbatory grade “since you’ll be getting a tutor” Yubin explained. She was not going to fail Dahyun, leaving her no choice but to accept the tutor. Smart move, Dahyun thought

“Okay” was all that came out from Dahyun’s mouth

“You’ll meet your tutor tomorrow during lunch, she’ll wait for you in the library, by the desks at the far end” Yubin told her

“She as in…” Dahyun left her question hanging

“She’s a student, you probably don’t know her but I’m sure she’ll be the only one there, now go back to your seat”

Dahyun did as told. A student tutor, that was somehow even worse than a regular tutor, she imagined her tutor would be one of those cocky and annoying know-it-alls. Dahyun crossed her arms as she sulked into her seat, this situation majorly sucked.

“So guys…” Chaeyoung started making her friends shift their attention to her “I’ve got good news” she finished

“What is it? I love good news!” Dahyun said smiling, she could use good news after getting back her History exam

“Lower your voice Dahyun, wouldn’t want Mrs. Kang to scold us” Tzuyu warned whispering, seeing as they were in detention right now. Dahyun shrugged as if it was unimportant, and to her it was, actually.

“Jeongyeon invited me to her house for a movie night on Friday, she said to invite you guys as well” Chaeyoung finished

“Oh my god that’s great news!” Dahyun practically shouted

“Shhh!” They heard Mrs. Kang scold

“Told you you’d get scolded” Tzuyu told Dahyun with a satisfied smile

“Whatever” Dahyun rolled her eyes “What is she going to do? Send me to detention?” Dahyun chuckled at her own joke

“An invite to Jeongyeon’s house, that’s great isn’t it Tzuyu?” Dahyun asked sending Tzuyu a smirk

“I suppose” Tzuyu began and Dahyun furrowed her eyebrows, why wasn’t she more excited about this? “I can’t go though” she finished nonchalantly, her attention going back to studying.

“What do you mean you can’t go?! What could be more important than going to your crush’s house?!” Dahyun asked disconcerted

An image of Nayeon quickly flashed by Tzuyu’s head but she shook it off, she was only doing this to benefit Chaeyoung, that was it, she didn’t enjoy her time with Nayeon whatsoever.

“My mom needs me at the cafeteria on Friday” Tzuyu easily came up with a lie, what was happening to her? Since when did she start lying to her friends? This was all for Chaeyoung, she convinced herself.

“Boo you whore!” Dahyun said making a reference to which Chaeyoung let out a laugh and Tzuyu rolled her eyes “This could’ve been perfect for our plan! Can’t you talk to your mom?” Dahyun was still pushing the subject. Tzuyu shifted in her chair

“Not really, one of her employees has been sick and there’s no one to cover for him tomorrow so…” It didn’t feel right to Tzuyu, she had never been one to lie and yet, she did it so easily.

“You suck” Dahyun sentenced marking the end of that conversation, Tzuyu shrugged, it was for the common good.

“Wait, Chae, is Nayeon gonna be there?” Dahyun asked her friend and she didn’t fail to notice how Tzuyu’s attention suddenly settled upon the two

“Well, I don’t know, Jeongyeon hasn’t mentioned anything about it” Chaeyoung answered with a shrug

“If she goes that would be perfect don’t you think?” Chaeyoung only nodded in response

“So what time should we get there?” Dahyun asked

“Well I’m going there with Jeongyeon” Chaeyoung began and Dahyun noticed a faint smile forming in her lips “I guess you could catch up with us once you’re done with the dishes” Chaeyoung finished going back to her drawing

“Hmmm, sounds about right” Dahyun said but couldn’t shake off the feeling that something was wrong.

The car ride to Nayeon’s house was awfully quiet, no banter or anything, Nayeon didn’t even say a thing when Tzuyu sat on the front seat next to her and Tzuyu was just a little bit disappointed.

They had been practicing for what felt like hours, immersed in the worst kind of silence. Tzuyu was never really too perceptive of other people’s feelings but she was sure there was something wrong with Nayeon, still, she wasn’t brave enough to ask.

“You must be starving” Nayeon said breaking the silence for the first time in nearly an hour

“I’m alri-” Tzuyu was cut off by her rumbling stomach, her cheeks tinted pink, that was embarrassing but to Nayeon it was simply adorable

“Come on, I’ll make you a salad” Nayeon offered making Tzuyu wonder why she was acting so nice all of a sudden, she decided not to question it and followed Nayeon into the kitchen.

Silence settled between them once again as Tzuyu rested her back against the counter, watching Nayeon as she took the ingredients out of the fridge. After a while she heard Nayeon huff

“Everything okay?” Tzuyu asked after hearing her huff two times more

“I suck at cutting up strawberries” Nayeon answered and lifted her arm to clean her non-existent sweat.

“I see, what are you cutting them with?” Tzuyu asked, she wanted to help. She started walking towards Nayeon

“This fork” Nayeon answered turning around letting Tzuyu see she wasn’t holding a fork, she was holding a knife

A few seconds passed by in which Nayeon and Tzuyu looked at each other, then the knife in Nayeon’s hand, then each other again.

“That’s a knife” Tzuyu finally says earning a small smile from Nayeon, but it goes as quickly as it came.

“Whatever, I just don’t know what I’m doing wrong! I hate cooking” Nayeon said dropping the knife on the counter and crossing her arms with a pout

“And you say you don’t care about me” Tzuyu teased from where she was standing in front of Nayeon

“Excuse me?!” Nayeon asked completely baffled

“You just said you hate cooking, yet, you were trying to cook ‘cause I was hungry” Tzuyu explained “That’s cute” Tzuyu blurted out before she could stop herself

“This has nothing to do with you” Nayeon answered, arms still crossed, pout in place.

“Mmhmm, if you say sooo…” Tzuyu said before poking Nayeon’s left cheek, knowing it would piss off the older

“I do say so ‘cause it’s true” Nayeon replied slightly raising her tone

“You look cute when you pretend to be angry” Tzuyu knew what buttons to push in order to mess with the older, besides she actually looked cute so Tzuyu was only saying the truth.

“And you never look cute, now get out of my kitchen!” Nayeon finally uncrossed her arms making Tzuyu turn around by her shoulders and pushing her from the back until she was out of the kitchen.

Tzuyu silently watched from outside as Nayeon kept on trying to cut the strawberries and so she realized the problem, Nayeon’s knife was turned upside down.

It was finally Friday and Jeongyeon was enjoying lunch with her best friends. After gulping down her bite of food, she spoke to get their attention

“So y’all are going to my house today, right?” Jeongyeon looked at her friends expectantly

“Yup” Sana answered and Momo nodded, Nayeon’s answer came in the form of a sneeze

“Oooh someone’s getting sick” Momo teased

“Eh? No way, there’s just a lot of dust around, I suppose” Nayeon defended herself, she couldn’t get sick, not right now in the middle of exams

“What about you Nayeon? Are you coming over later?” Jeongyeon turned to look at the girl sitting besides her whose eyes now seemed lost in the sea of people

“Huh?” Nayeon asked snapping back to reality

“I asked if you’re coming to my house for the movie night” Jeongyeon repeated

“Oh that, no I can’t” Nayeon answered briefly looking at Jeongyeon then ahead once again, looking through the crowd for a tall brunette

“What?! Why?! I’ve been telling you about this for weeks!” Jeongyeon complained.

“I know but my mom is coming back later tonight” Nayeon lied while her eyes wandered looking for Tzuyu… bingo! Nayeon’s face lit up once she spotted the younger girl

“Really? I thought she was coming back tomorrow?” Jeongyeon questioned

“Yeah, change of plans” Nayeon shrugged

“Will you go pick her up at the airport then?” Jeongyeon asked

“Yup” Nayeon popped out the last p finishing their conversation. Her attention consumed by Tzuyu as her friends discussed which movies to watch later that day.

Dahyun was making her way towards the library to meet her tutor, against her will, that’s why she was walking so slowly.

Once she made it through the doors of the library she was met with a deserted location, not literally since the librarian was sitting at her desk giving her a look, Dahyun smiled uncertainly and the woman huffed before going back to what she was doing. ‘Love the hospitality here, 10/10’ Dahyun thought making herself laugh.

She walked up to the very far end, where there was a bunch of desks where the students could work but there was no one there, Yubin lied to her. She then walked through the different aisles but it really seemed like there wasn’t a single soul there. She took a turn on the H-J aisle and she came crashing into someone else

“Ah!” Dahyun shouted as she jumped “AH!” she shouted even louder this time getting into a defensive position, she wasn’t expecting to find anyone here so you can imagine how scared she was

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you” a girl turned around and Dahyun watched in slow-motion as her hair flipped and she delicately put it behind her ear, that was Dahyun’s crush

“Umm, were you looking for something?” Mina asked after Dahyun had been staring for a while

“Eh no, I- got uh I was um looking for the bathroom but this isn’t it bye” Dahyun answered and practically ran away, scolding herself, what ever happened to the confidence she had found the other day?

When Dahyun walked into the cafeteria she spotted her friends talking and laughing, it made her smile to herself

“Hey guys” Dahyun greeted plopping down next to Tzuyu

“Hey” Chaeyoung answered taking a sip of her strawberry beverage

“Weren’t you supposed to meet your tutor?” Tzuyu asked

“I was, and I went looking for her but I couldn’t find her” Dahyun shrugged as she stole a bite from Chaeyoung’s food “I did find someone else though” Dahyun made a pause to make sure she had her friend’s attention “My crush”

“Did you finally talk to her?” Chaeyoung asked completely unbothered by the fact that Dahyun kept on stealing from her food

“Sort of” Dahyun answered

“I have a feeling you embarrassed yourself in front of her” Tzuyu teased

“No I did not” Dahyun crossed her arms and both her friends looked at her in disbelief “Okay maybe just a little” she admitted under their stare

They continued eating and talking. Dahyun had this weird ability that she could easily feel when someone was staring at her and she had been feeling a heavy stare for a while. She began looking for its source and she finally found it: Nayeon, except she wasn’t staring at Dahyun, she was staring at her friend, and not the one Dahyun expected. She furrowed her eyebrows, this was weird.

It was Chaeyoung and Tzuyu’s last day of detention and it showed. They had never been this happy in detention, Dahyun really couldn’t wait for HER punishment to be over.

The three friends parted ways but something was still bothering Dahyun, so she decided to follow Tzuyu through the hallways and into the parking lot, once Tzuyu started slowing down, Dahyun crouched down and hid behind a bush.

She saw Tzuyu greeting Nayeon, she watched as Tzuyu laughed and pinched Nayeon’s cheeks, Nayeon roll her eyes and then smile when Tzuyu wasn’t looking and then finally she saw them get into the car together and drive off.

What the fresh fuck was that? If Tzuyu was friends with Nayeon now how come she hadn't told them? Plenty of questions were left in Dahyun’s head after watching that interaction, it was weird seeing Tzuyu so playful. Dahyun would get her answers but for now, dishes called.

Nayeon had already sneezed four times in a row and they had barely made it out the parking lot.

“You should put on a sweater or something, you’re gonna catch a cold” Tzuyu suggested as Nayeon sneezed again

“Aw, you care about me” Nayeon said mocking Tzuyu’s words from the other day

“I never said I didn’t” Tzuyu answered without hesitation and Nayeon was left speechless

They made it to Nayeon’s house at last and Nayeon’s sneezing didn’t stop, it became a problem when they started practicing and Tzuyu noticed Nayeon looked paler than usual, her nose was red from blowing it so much.

“You don’t look so good, I think it’s best if we stop” Tzuyu said stopping her movements

“I’m perfectly” Nayeon sneezed “fine” she finished even though it was obvious to both of them that she wasn’t

Tzuyu walked up to her and placed her hand on Nayeon’s forehead

“Mmhmm, just as I thought” Tzuyu said and Nayeon looked up to her, expectantly “You’ve got a fever, plus all of the sneezing… I can safely assume you’ve caught a cold” Tzuyu finished

“Not an impediment, let’s keep on practicing” Nayeon said and took a determined step forwards but was stopped by Tzuyu’s hands on her shoulders

“No way, what you need right now is some rest” Tzuyu sentenced in a way that left no room for discussion

“You should go to your room, change into your pajamas and get into bed” Tzuyu said and urged Nayeon to walk back inside her house

“And what are you gonna do?” Nayeon wondered, she really didn’t want her to leave but she wasn’t going to say that

“I am going to prepare an anti-flu juice for you, my mom makes it for me whenever I get sick” Tzuyu finished explaining just as they stopped at the kitchen “Now go, I’ll be done in a minute”

Nayeon’s smile was so big right now as she walked to her room that she felt like her jaw was gonna fall off. Tzuyu cared about her, just the mere thought was enough to make Nayeon’s heart flutter

In all honesty, Nayeon hated being told what to do, but in this case, not only was it Tzuyu who had told her, but she also did feel pretty sick and she knew she needed rest. She heard her bedroom door open after a while and Tzuyu walked in holding a glass full of a pink looking beverage.

“How did you find my room?” Nayeon wondered out loud since she didn’t really tell Tzuyu where it was

“Trial and error” Tzuyu answered smiling slightly, she walked towards Nayeon’s bed and left the glass on her nightstand “Here you go, just drink all of it and sleep, you’ll feel better tomorrow”

“Thank you” Nayeon said and Tzuyu was taken aback, this fever must really be affecting Nayeon.

“I should leave now, you take care” Tzuyu said even if she didn’t really want to leave Nayeon behind in that state

“Stay” Nayeon didn’t have to say it twice, that’s all Tzuyu needed to hear, she nodded and called her mom.

A couple hours passed by and Nayeon finally fell asleep. Tzuyu got up from the chair she had pulled up earlier and put it back by the desk from where she took it, as silently as she could in order not to wake up Nayeon. She was turning the doorknob when she heard Nayeon faintly say

“Where are you going?” Tzuyu sighed, so much for not wanting to wake her up

“I’ll go sleep on the couch” Tzuyu informed and she saw as Nayeon shook her head

“Sleep with me” Nayeon requested with a pout, how could Tzuyu say no? She walked over to the bed

“Scoot” Tzuyu said and Nayeon did, leaving enough space for Tzuyu to get under the covers

Tzuyu was unsure of what to do, sure they spent the past couple of hours talking but still she was just laying there, completely rigid, until she felt Nayeon snuggle up against her, she wrapped her arms around Nayeon and rested her chin on top of the shorter’s head. An unconscious smile left her lips and soon enough both girls fell into a deep sleep.

Dahyun stood in front of Jeongyeon’s door, she was actually surprised to find out it was near her own. Without waiting any longer she rang the doorbell twice and waited patiently for someone to open up

“Oh, hi, you’re cute” Sana said when she opened the door, definitely not the greeting Dahyun was expecting, although, to be honest, she wasn’t really expecting anything

“Uh, thanks” Dahyun wasn’t sure what else to say so she just stood there

“Are you Chaeyoung’s friend?” Sana asked leaving no time for the silence to turn awkward, Dahyun nodded

“Dahyun” she offered her hand and Sana shook it

“Come on in, we were just choosing the next movie” Sana said letting Dahyun in and closing the door behind them, guiding Dahyun to the T.V. room

“My savior!” she heard Jeongyeon shout as soon as she stepped into the room “Though I did get caught in the end” Jeongyeon mumbled to herself

Dahyun looked around for a place to sit, Jeongyeon and Chaeyoung were sharing a couch and Sana and Momo were sitting on a bigger one

“Come sit with us” Sana told her with a smile and Dahyun ended up in between Sana and Momo.

They ended up settling for a movie where a woman was murdered and they were trying to figure out who did it.

“I bet it was that guy, the one with the round glasses” Dahyun blurted out confidently twenty minutes into the movie

“No way, he looks too innocent” Jeongyeon commented “I bet it was the mom”

“Why would her mom want to kill her?” Momo questioned and Jeongyeon shrugged

“Insurance money? I don’t know, some people have issues” Jeongyeon answered Momo’s question

“Shh” Sana said shutting them up

In the end Dahyun was right about who the murderer was and Sana and Momo showered her with compliments. She didn’t know what to do

“Now let’s get to the good stuff” Jeongyeon said and put on a ‘really scary movie’ as she described it to her friends

Dahyun was usually very easily scared but this movie was so bad, she didn’t even feel a little bit of fear, so she decided to distract herself by looking around Jeongyeon’s T.V. room. Her eyes landed on Jeongyeon and Chaeyoung who were now cuddled up on the couch, making comments about the movie among themselves. Dahyun had no idea they were THAT close. Every time something “scary” happened they tightened their hold on each other.

After today’s events a million theories were running through Dahyun’s mind, she needed to talk to someone about this and since she couldn’t talk it out with Chaeyoung and Tzuyu, just in case she had misread everything, she decided there was only one person who could help her: Jihyo.


	9. One Tutor, A Tutor, THE Tutor

Nayeon woke up the next morning, she kept her eyes closed wanting to enjoy the warmth her pillow provided just a little longer. Wait, she thought, this didn’t feel like her pillow. She slowly and hesitantly opened her eyes only to find herself basically laying on top of someone else. Nayeon quickly sat up on their stomach finally being able to see who it was: Chou Tzuyu .

Nayeon smiled recalling yesterday’s events and then she laid back fon on the girl, she was about to fall asleep again when she remembered something, her mom was coming back today and she would probably get home soon. Her eyes shot open once again as she got off bed and that’s when she really thought over the situation.

What was she thinking? Letting Tzuyu sleep with her? Cuddling? She really shouldn’t have done that.

“Tzuyu! Tzuyu!” she shouted as she started shaking the sleeping beauty, “Wake up Chou Tzuyu!” Nayeon shouted so loud that she was sure she woke up the neighbors too.

“Well good morning to you too” Tzuyu said after sitting up on bed and stretching out her arms

“Leave” Nayeon demanded

“Oh so you’re feeling better, that’s good” Tzuyu answered with a smile, Nayeon was being herself again now that the fever was gone.

“Stop, don’t cARE about me, just leave, my mom is coming back any moment now” Nayeon said desperately looking under the bed for Tzuyu’s shoes while Tzuyu just watched her from Nayeon’s bed.

“I’ll just… sleep five minutes more” Tzuyu said and proceeded to lay back down in the older’s bed

“Tzuyu!” Nayeon yelled throwing one of Tzuyu’s shoes towards the owner

“Ugh” Tzuyu complained as the shoe hit her butt. “No need to be so rude, so what if your mom finds me here? You’re acting as if we had a wild night full of se-” Tzuyu was cut odd as Nayeon threw the other shoe against her, hitting the wall behind Tzuyu and falling down next to Nayeon’s pillow, Tzuyu thought that her comment was probably uncalled for.

“Shut up! Just leave already, I don’t wanna see you anymore!” Nayeon shouted, definitely uncalled for, Tzuyu thought as she got up from under the covers, retrieving her shoes and putting them on.

Tzuyu didn’t want to show that Nayeon’s words affected her. She never was a fan of showing emotion and she wouldn’t start now.

“I know the way out” Tzuyu said after both her shoes were in place “See you on Monday” Tzuyu made sure to pinch Nayeon’s cheeks before leaving, knowing it would bother the older, but not even Nayeon’s pissed off face could ease the heaviness that settled inside Tzuyu’s heart.

When Nayeon heard the front door open and close she sat down on the floor, hugging her knees as she rocked back and forth. She had let Tzuyu get too close, what a silly mistake, but Nayeon would rather die than to ever let herself slip like that again. She wiped her tears with the side of her right hand and stood up. She was determined to kick Tzuyu out of her life for good.

“So Tzuyu…” Dahyun began as the three friends made their way to school riding their bicycles “How was work with your mom on Friday?” Dahyun asked in an inquisitive tone

“Meh, boring as usual, nothing new” Tzuyu answered shrugging to add more credibility to her words.

“I see, and how did you get there, since you didn’t have your bike with you?” Dahyun was trying to put Tzuyu on the spot, she knew the truth, at least some of it, but she wondered if Tzuyu would actually tell her the truth.

“I took the bus” Tzuyu lied with ease

“Oh so no one drove you there? Right?” Dahyun pushed further, she needed the truth

“Well yeah… the bus driver” Tzuyu smiled and Chaeyoung let out a laugh

“No news at the cafeteria then, huh?” Dahyun asked again and Tzuyu replied with an uninterested “nope”

“Well movie night at Jeongyeon’s was quite interesting, right Chaeyoung?” Dahyun finished asking as they came to a stop on the corner of the street

“Wouldn’t really call it interesting but it was definitely fun” Chaeyoung answered under Dahyun’s intent stare.

“It was interesting seeing everyone getting closer” Dahyun said arching her eyebrows up and down, Chaeyoung and Tzuyu looked at her.

“Have you got something in your eyes?” Tzuyu asked seeing as Dahyun hadn’t stopped with her eyebrows movements

“Eh? No? Why?” Dahyun was confused

“You keep moving your eyebrows like this” Tzuyu demonstrated but made sure to exaggerate her movements “so I just thought maybe something got in your eyes” Dahyun face-palmed herself.

“Let’s just,, get to school” she said and started pedaling again, she wasn’t gonna get the truth out of them, she was sure of that.

“I’ll see you in class Tzu, there’s something I need to do” Chaeyoung told Tzuyu who just nodded as they parted ways.

Chaeyoung hastily walked towards the Lost & Found, she forgot to take Jeong’s notebook there on Friday so she just hoped it wouldn’t be too late now.

Once there she made sure to stuff it under everything else so it wouldn’t be too obvious that it had just been left there. After she was happy with the way it was arranged she turned around to leave only to find Jeongyeon a few steps away, great, she thought.

“Chaeyoung!” Jeongyeon said catching the girl’s attention and raising her hand as a greeting

“Hey Jeongyeon” Chaeyoung smiled nervously, looking everywhere but at the taller girl

“Didn’t think I’d find you here” Jeongyeon commented casually

“Yeah well, that makes two of us” Chaeyoung mumbled, inaudible to Jeongyeon

“So what did you lose? And did you find it?” Jeongyeon asked seeing as Chaeyoung wasn’t going to say anything

“A hair pin but I realized, it was on my head the whole time, duh!” Chaeyoung quickly made up a lame excuse that for some reason made Jeongyeon laugh

“That’s cute, I hope I’m lucky as well and find my notebook” Jeongyeon said smiling optimistically

“Hope so too, anyway, I’ll see you around, bye” Chaeyoung spoke so quickly and left even quicker that it didn’t give Jeongyeon a chance to even say goodbye back, she smiled while shaking her head, this girl.

Mina was sitting at a desk inside the library patiently waiting for the mysterious girl she was supposed to tutor. She checked her phone, she had been waiting for ten minutes and she figured this girl wasn’t going to come.

Mina thought it was extremely disrespectful, not showing up two days in a row. Whoever this girl was, Mina already wasn’t too fond of her.

She picked up her things and went to meet up with Jihyo. She had told her she had something very important to tell her, she wondered what it was.

Dahyun was going over everything that she wanted to tell Jihyo as she walked to meet her. She walked outside to where she always was during lunch

She spotted her sitting on the grass with her back against Dahyun and for a second she thought the girl was alone until she saw her laughing but she couldn’t really see who was with her. She walked closer and closer until she saw… her crush

“Come on, we should get going” Jihyo said standing up, causing Dahyun to enter a state of panic. She was going to get caught creeping.

She quickly turned around to start running but she ran straight into a tree “ Who puts a tree in the middle of nowhere?” she thought to herself as she took her hand up to her injured nose, surely it started bleeding.

“Crap!” Dahyun exclaimed silently, she could hear Jihyo’s voice getting closer. She had to hide quickly, she sprinted towards a trash can and hid herself behind it, she watched the two girls walk by in front of her. She sighed, so much for getting help from Jihyo.

“My brother is throwing a party in like two months and you’re coming” Jihyo told Mina as they both walked towards their next class

“No thanks” Mina answered clearly uninterested

“I wasn’t asking, it was more like an affirmation that you were coming” Jihyo smiled when Mina glared at her

“But I don’t wanna” Mina puffed her cheeks as she pouted

“You’ve never gone to one, c’mon it could be fun” Jihyo insisted and Mina couldn’t believe this was the ‘very important’ thing Jihyo had to tell her “At least promise me you’ll think about it” Jihyo said as she linked their arms together

“I’ll think about it right now” Mina said and Jihyo looked at her with a hopeful glint in her eyes

“Really?” Jihyo asked brightly

“Yeah” Mina made a pause, pretending to be deep in thought “The answer’s still no”

“Oh c’mon Mina” Jihyo groaned “It could be fun! You could make new friends, maybe even find love” Jihyo teased

“Ew, what is that?” Mina answered sporting a disgusted expression that made Jihyo laugh and put an end to their current conversation.

Jihyo and Mina had been best friends for the longest time. Anyone could’ve thought that their friendship wouldn’t last long seeing as they were both so different, but somehow they had made it work out just fine.

Dahyun’s History class was over and she was more than ready to leave but, as Dahyun was growing used to, Yubin had a different plan, ‘What does she want from me?’ Dahyun thought to herself.

“Yes Mrs. Kim?” Dahyun asked as politely as her current emotional state allowed her once she reached the teacher’s desk.

“You haven’t shown up to your tutoring sessions” Yubin said seriously and Dahyun’s mind went blank as it so often did.

“Yeah, you see… generic excuse” Dahyun finished nodding, sometimes she wishes she could just uuuh, shut the fuck up.

“Generic excuse? You’re aware I still have a chance to change your grade, right?” Dahyun knew she was probably overreacting but it felt as if Yubin was, threatening her.

“I'm sorry I did go but there was no one there, other than the librarian of course, and then since I really didn’t know who I was looking for I just assumed they weren’t there so I left” Dahyun let out quickly, a habit of her when she was nervous

“If that’s the only problem, I’ll introduce you two before detention” Yubin said and dismissed Dahyun who was left wondering why Yubin just didn’t introduce them before, what was the point? What was the purpose? Dahyun would never know.

“Dahyun!” the girl heard her name being called before she could step foot inside the detention room. She quickly recognized the voice, Yubin. Honestly, Dahyun was beginning to feel fed up with the teacher, she turned around and saw Yubin standing there and besides her was her crush, wait a minute… HER CRUSH?!??!

“Glad I caught you on time” Yubin said but Dahyun paid her no mind, she was too busy staring at her crush

“So Dahyun, this is Mina, your tutor” Dahyun could see Yubin kept talking but she couldn’t hear.

Her crush was her tutor, how could someone so beautiful be a tutor, this had to be some sick and twisted joke. Not only was her crush a student tutor, which was bad enough itself, but she was HER tutor. I’m gonna be alone forever with this luck of mine, she thought

“I’ll let you two introduce yourselves” Dahyun’s soul came back into her body just in time to hear Yubin’s last words before she walked away

“Uh, hi” Dahyun said and now she was looking everywhere but at Mina

“Hey” Mina’s voice was barely audible, the two just stood there unsure of what they were supposed to say

“Detention” Dahyun said and pointed to the back with her right thumb and an apologetical smile. Mina just nodded her lips pursed

And from the distance Chaeyoung was watching the whole thing as she wondered what exactly was going down, she’d have to figure out later, for now, it was music club time. Chaeyoung was excited to see everyone again after a week-long detention.

Tzuyu was never really one to notice things but it was impossible not to pick on the fact that Nayeon was very clearly ignoring her, and no, this wasn’t just Nayeon’s attempt to be “mean” to Tzuyu, she was actually flat out ignoring her. Tzuyu tried to remain unbothered but this WAS bothering her.

She wanted Nayeon to at least look at her, for no other reason than Chaeyoung, obviously. But it wasn’t working, Tzuyu was trying to do everything wrong, which wasn’t really that hard, because that way Nayeon HAD to talk to her, even if just to scold her.

After making one too many wrong moves, Tzuyu watched as Nayeon whispered something to Sana and she then saw Sana walking over, Sana pulled her to the side while the rest of the squad kept on practicing.

“Nayeon told me to tell you that you’re benched for the remaining time of practice and that no, you can’t leave” Sana told Tzuyu sporting an apologetical smile. Tzuyu quickly glanced at Nayeon who was focused on the practice.

“Tell Nayeon to tell me that herself” Tzuyu said as she began walking back to where everyone was. Sana was left behind shaking her head. She had no idea what was going on between those two but it sure was something.

Nayeon saw from the corner of her eyes as Tzuyu reincorporated herself back to the squad, she was still performing poorly, it was like she wasn’t even trying and Nayeon was getting fed up with it.

“Ten minute break everyone!” Nayeon shouted suddenly stopping all her movements. The squad dispersed and she moved to take a seat at the bleachers.

Tzuyu smiled as she saw Nayeon was all by herself, this was her chance to talk to her. Before she could even reach the bleachers though, another figure stood in her way.

“Hey, I don’t believe we’ve properly met, I’m Jun” he said extending his hand

“Tzuyu” she answered shaking his hand hoping he’d go away after, but he didn’t

“Are you excited about regionals?” Tzuyu could barely open her mouth to answer when Jun started talking again “I am very excited about it, you know I tried out for the team last year but didn’t get in so I practiced hard and got in, let me tell you, my boyfriend was NOT happy about it, but I was like shut up Jeonghan I worked hard for this, he told me to keep my distance with Nayeon, said she’s bad news blah blah blah, long story short here I am” Jun finished smiling, gosh what were they feeding this kid? Tzuyu thought Dahyun talked a lot….

“What does your boyfriend know?” out of all the 83457 things Jun said, the Nayeon part stuck out to her for some reason

“As far as I know he doesn’t really know her, but you know what people say about her, I guess he’s just being cautious” Jun shrugged and just when Tzuyu thought he was done “he’s really protective of me you know, I find it really cute”

“Well cute or not, he shouldn’t be judging people based on someone else’s opinion” Tzuyu felt the need to defend Nayeon

“Chill, you know her and she’s not very nice to you so… maybe there’s some truth to what people say about her and anyway, why are you defending her?” Jun asked, this conversation wasn’t what he expected

“She’s the cheer squad captain, I deserved all those punishments and also I’m not defending her, everyone deserves the benefit of the doubt” Tzuyu was getting heated up now, the only version of Nayeon that existed in her head was the Nayeon that she spent all Friday evening with, the Nayeon that asked her to stay and cuddled with her all night.

“I’m sorry” Jun put his hands up in surrender “This wasn’t the best first conversation we could’ve had, can we start over?” Jun looked at Tzuyu hopefully, Tzuyu sighed, she could use a friend in the cheer squad, she nodded and Jun introduced himself again.

Tzuyu met up with Chaeyoung and the two walked towards detention to meet up with Dahyun and walk her to the kitchen. Now that Chaeyoung and Tzuyu were free from detention the three friends wanted to make the most out of the time they could spend together.

“So Dahyun, anything you wanna share with us?” Chaeyoung asked before Dahyun had even exited the classroom

“Eh?” Dahyun showed her confusion as they started walking slowly

“I saw you with your crush earlier” Chaeyoung explained, great, Dahyun thought to herself, the one thing I wanted to keep to myself…

“Oh that…” Dahyun mumbled under her breath, incomprehensible to her two friends, and it was incomprehensible because Dahyun wanted it to be.

“What?” Tzuyu asked, her brows furrowed

“I said that my crush is my new History tutor” Dahyun said making Chaeyoung and Tzuyu start laughing

Dahyun kept walking trying to ignore their laughter but she soon noticed they weren’t walking beside her anymore. When she turned around she found Chaeyoung doubling with laughter, holding her stomach with one hand and Tzuyu beside her laughing as well as tears accumulated in her eyes, she marched up to them.

“C’mon guys, it’s not THAT funny” Dahyun said as she threw her arms up defeated when she saw her friend’s laughter wasn’t dying down.

“Whatever” Dahyun rolled her eyes “I’ll just walk myself to the kitchen” she finished and she started walking once again.

“No, wait!” Chaeyoung recomposed herself as she caught up with Dahyun, Tzuyu making her way there a few seconds after, wiping away her tears.

“You have to admit it is kinda funny” Tzuyu said after a moment of silence but only Chaeyoung and Tzuyu laughed, this situation was in no way funny to Dahyun.

“I guess this is life’s way of telling me I’ll end up all alone and own thirteen ferrets” Dahyun sighed

“That’s an oddly specific number” Chaeyoung thought to herself out loud

“Don’t be so pessimistic about this” Tzuyu began trying to cheer up her friend and also perhaps get the ridiculous idea of owning thirteen whole ass ferrets out of her head “on the bright side, you’ll get to spend lunch periods with your crush, that’s like a dream come true”

“Oh is it Tzuyu… IS IT?!” Dahyun questioned her friend as they came to a stop in front of the kitchen’s door “Getting invited to watch movies at your crush’s house IS a dream come true, this is just torture, I’ll just have to un-crush Mina” Dahyun shrugged and her friends knew nothing they said could cheer the older girl up.

“It is very funny though” Chaeyoung said once Dahyun had closed the door behind her.

Chaeyoung and Tzuyu looked at each other and started laughing again, they were gonna have a blast messing with Dahyun for this one.

The next day Dahyun was standing in front of the library’s wooden door, arms crossed, brows furrowed, squinted eyes and a pout on her lips. No way she was going in. Fuck History. She started walking away but her good conscience spoke up “Ugh, fine” Dahyun muttered as she entered the library, headed straight for the study desks at the very far end. Walking under the librarian’s heavy gaze, Dahyun hated this place already.

As the study desks became clearer in her vision, she spotted Mina sitting at one, peacefully reading. The sunlight was hitting the side of her face. The scene before Dahyun’s eyes took her breath away, until she remembered why she was there in the first place. Dahyun walked up to her and cleared her throat making Mina look up, she offered Dahyun a smile that Dahyun thought was super pretty.

“Glad you decided to come, take a seat” Mina said pointing at the chair beside her. Dahyun’s brows furrowed, ‘great, she’s already giving me orders’ she thought but took a seat anyway.

“Mrs. Kim gave me your History exam so I could check out where your problem is, let’s go over it okay?” Mina looked over at Dahyun who had her arms crossed across her chest, Dahyun didn’t answer

“I’ll take that as a yes” Mina said and proceeded to take Dahyun’s exam out of a folder, ‘of course she would have a folder’ Dahyun thought

“So the first question was ‘How many early civilizations are there?’ You wrote ‘At least two’ and while that’s not technically wrong it isn’t the right answer either”

“They should make their questions less vague then” Dahyun scoffed

“I’ll make sure to tell Mrs. Kim that” Mina answered, taking Dahyun’s comment as a suggestion

“I’ll mAkE sURE to tElL MrS. kiM tHaT” Dahyun imitated Mina in her head, student tutors were so annoying, no matter how pretty they could be.

“So let’s go over early civilizations today, their locations, technological advances, their language the-” Mina stopped herself when she noticed Dahyun wasn’t paying attention, instead, the pale girl was looking closely at a row of ants that were walking on the table. Mina sighed.

“I’m not gonna be able to help you in any way of you do not pay attention, you know that right?” Mina asked finally getting Dahyun’s attention, Dahyun sat up properly and finally uncrossed her arms.

“Tell me something, Mina…” Dahyun put a weird emphasis on the older’s name and Mina hated it “Why are you doing this? What do you win from it?” Dahyun questioned

“What? I just want to help” Mina was visibly confused

“Sounds fake but… okay” Dahyun replied and Mina sighed yet again, she wasn’t gonna waste her time in someone who CLEARLY didn’t want her help

“I don’t have to put up with this” Mina stood up and started packing her stuff “If you decide you want my help I’ll gladly tutor you, I’ll be here all week, same time, bye Dahyun”

Dahyun watched as Mina walked away and she thought she had definitely screwed it up, but she just couldn’t bring herself to trust Mina, not when she was her tutor and certainly not after Mrs. Seo…

Dahyun sighed, disappointed in herself as she walked outside of the library. Damn her and her trauma with tutors.


	10. School Meal Club's Field Trip

“I’m so excited about today’s field trip” Tzuyu said while parking her bike

“I still have no idea where it came from, like, suddenly we’re going on a field trip” Chaeyoung commented while taking off her helmet.

“We’ve known about it for weeks” Tzuyu informed her clueless friend

“Yes Chaeyoung, get with it” Dahyun teased, honestly with everything going on, this field trip was the last thing on Chaeyoung’s mind.

The friends made their way until they reached the bus, there were two buses and everyone from their grade was splitting into them according to their group

“I guess this is where we say goodbye” Chaeyoung said when they reached hers and Tzuyu’s bus, since Dahyun was from another group she wasn’t supposed to come into their bus.

“No it’s not, I’m coming with you” Dahyun informed

“You’re not supposed to” Tzuyu warned her

“Well, I wasn’t supposed to steal a cheesecake either but, life takes many unexpected turns” Dahyun answered with a shrug and went ahead inside the bus.

That was a very Dahyun-like response so Chaeyoung and Tzuyu just went ahead and followed her into the bus and all the way towards the back seats.

The ride to their destination was rather short and uneventful, they didn’t get to talk much since Kaitelyn decided to sit with them because, for whatever reason, she thought they were friends.

The whole ride she was going on and on about how great Nayeon and Jeongyeon would be as a couple, it even made Dahyun dizzy at some point or maybe that was because she forgot to eat breakfast, whatever it was, the fact remained that Kaitelyn was annoying.

“Like, I KNOW Nayeon and Shownu being together would make more sense but it’s CLEAR Nayeon doesn’t like him” Kaitelyn was still going off as they got off the bus and started walking, the three friends were trying their best to ignore her pointless rambling.

“It’s very obvious Nayeon likes Jeongyeon” both Chaeyoung and Tzuyu rolled their eyes at this “they’re probably even dati-” Kaitelyn’s words were cut off as she fell down on top of…

“Is that…?” Tzuyu asked hesitantly

“Cow shit” Dahyun said nodding as she blinked slowly

“Anyway” Tzuyu said after the three stared at Kaitelyn for a while as she tried to get up from that pile of poop “We should catch up with the others” she finished

Dahyun finally took the time to look around now that Kaitelyn’s annoying voice wasn’t ringing in her ears, this place gave her an odd sense of familiarity, like she had been here before

“I don’t understand why they brought us to a farm out of all places we could’ve gone” Chaeyoung said as she avoided yet another pile of horse shit

“The author wants me to face my trauma with tutors so I can have a proper character development that will lead to developing a better relationship with Mina that will eventually blossom into a romantic one when the time comes” Dahyun answered in a monotonous, robotic-like voice

“Sorry what?” Tzuyu asked “Did you just say the… author?”

“No I didn’t” Dahyun said coming back to her senses

“Yes you did!” Chaeyoung accused pointing a finger at Dahyun

“When? I never said that!” Dahyun defended herself

“Just now!” Tzuyu threw her arms up frustrated, how could Dahyun forget about something she jUST said?

“I did not” Dahyun whined out crossing her arms

“Whatever!” Chaeyoung gave up “let’s just go”

“Who even names their farm ‘Happy Eggs’, that’s so stupid” Chaeyoung said when she saw the name of the farm somewhere and once again Dahyun couldn’t shake off that feeling of familiarity.

“I can’t wait to see the cows, you think there’s cows here?” Tzuyu asked excitedly making her friends smile widely, it was cute seeing Tzuyu excited like this.

“Well…” Dahyun started “Considering the fact that Kaitelyn fell on a pile of cow shit I’d say yes” after Dahyun’s comment the three friends were finally able to laugh about the situation

“Where is she by the way?” Chaeyoung asked once their laughter had died down

“I don’t know and I honestly don’t wanna find out” Dahyun commented and the other girls nodded

“Do you think they’ll let us… pet the cows?” Tzuyu asked changing the topic

“Maybe” Chaeyoung answered with a shrug

The group came to a stop in front of some sort of building they all guessed was the office, or its farm equivalent at least, its shade of green gave Dahyun an unsettling feeling, something was certainly going to happen

“Welcome to Happy Eggs Farm” Dahyun heard a woman say and she laughed, it WAS a pretty stupid name, that voice though…

“We’re very happy to have you here today” no way… Dahyun couldn’t clearly see whoever was speaking but she was certain that voice belonged to… Mrs. Seo

As she looked around everything suddenly came back to her as a flashback of THAT day came into her mind.

[FLASHBACK]

“Come on sweetheart, Mrs. Seo is waiting for you” Dahyun’s mom said as she extended her hand for Dahyun to take so she could guide her through all the poop lying on the floor.

“Mrs. Seo is the bestest tutor ever, mom she said today she’d let me pet a cow if I do well, a WHOLE COW MOM, can you imagine that?!” a tiny Dahyun told her mom as she ran away and jumped over a pile of poop

“Dahyun be careful!” her mom scolded “You’re gonna fall face first into the poop!”

“I am not! Only someone with no brain would do that” Dahyun informed her mom as if it was something obvious. Her mother just shook her head and followed her.

“Mrs. Seo!!” Dahyun shouted once she spotted the woman standing in front of a green building. Dahyun ran towards Mrs. Seo, jumping into her arms once she was close enough

“Dahyun sweetie, are you ready for today’s lesson?” the woman asked in her characteristic sweet tone

Dahyun’s mom didn’t even bother saying goodbye to her daughter as she knew she’d probably get ignored if she did.

“Okay Dahyun, last one, what’s seven times eight?” Mrs. Seo questioned and Dahyun started counting with her fingers “No cheating” Mrs. Seo lightly scolded and Dahyun quickly placed her hands on top of the desk as she started thinking

“Uh, fifty eight?” Dahyun asked unsure

“Mmm… are you sure?” Mrs. Seo tried to make the little girl question herself

“NO WAIT! IT'S FIFTY SIX” Dahyun pouted

“You’re absolutely right it is, well done!” Mrs. Seo congratulated with a smile as she offered Dahyun her hand for a high five that was ignored by Dahyun

“Can I pet a cow now?!” Dahyun practically shouted in Mrs. Seo’s face

“Yes, yes you can” the woman said smiling fondly

Dahyun was holding Mrs. Seo’s hand as the two walked towards wherever the cows were. Dahyun could feel the excitement bubbling inside of her.

“Mrs. Seo can you give me a piggyback ride instead?” Dahyun gave the tutor her best puppy eyes

“Hope on kiddo” Mrs. Seo said as she crouched down in front of Dahyun

As they were walking Dahyun kept pointing stuff out

“The piggies are cute!” she shouted “Can I pet them too someday?” Dahyun asked hopeful

“Sure, you can pet them after the cows” Mrs. Seo offered and Dahyun let out a huge throaty scream that made Mrs. Seo laugh

“We’re here” Mrs. Seo informed as Dahyun climbed off her back

“Go on” Mrs. Seo told Dahyun as she held open the door of the fence that delimited the piece of field the cows were in, she stayed outside and Dahyun went in and carefully approached a cow

“That’s Patsy, you can pet her, she won’t hurt you” Dahyun turned to look at the tutor who gave her a reassuring smile, enough to encourage Dahyun to extend her hand and pet the cow’s head. Since the cow was much taller than Dahyun she had to stand on her tippy toes in order to be able to pet its head, once she did she smiled happily

“Did you see that?! I did it Mrs. Seo!” Dahyun turned around to look at the teacher but she was nowhere to be found “Mrs. Seo? MRS. SEO! MRS. SE-” Dahyun’s words were cut off when her whole head was swallowed by Patsy

It was the longest twenty seconds of Dahyun’s short life, finally Patsy opened her mouth and Dahyun set herself free. Her face covered in cow’s slobber and her tears. She wan out of the cow space and straight towards the green building they were in minutes before. She was still crying uncontrollably and she still had difficulty breathing and all she wanted was a warm hug.

“Mrs. Seo!” the girl shouted in between sobs once she spotted the tutor who was on the phone

“What happened to you?” Mrs. Seo asked after her phone call ended

“Patsy” Dahyun sobbed out but before she could explain the matter further, her mom walked inside the building

“Dahyun, sweetheart, what happened?” Her mom rushed to embrace her daughter and as soon as she did Dahyun started crying even harder, making it impossible to her to answer her mother’s question

“What happened to her?” Dahyun’s mom questioned Mrs. Seo as she got up, arms crossed, waiting for an explanation

“We went to pet the cows and I told her to be careful and not get too close but she wouldn’t listen” Mrs. Seo lied right in front of Dahyun’s salad

Dahyun wanted to shout that that wasn’t true but she was crying too much, she felt betrayed, she had never felt so betrayed in her whole eight years of life.

[END OF FLASHBACK]

“Oh fuck” Dahyun said coming back from the trance she had gone into

“Bro? Is everything alright?” Chaeyoung asked concerned. Dahyun had zoned out for a good minute and a half while Mrs. Seo kept talking

“Yeah, everything’s perfectly fine” Dahyun said and smiled, walking ahead of her friends as the group started moving again, she couldn’t help but think about what her next move would be, she certainly wanted to face Mrs. Seo, she deserved an explanation.

They made it to the cow’s field and Dahyun swears she had never seen Tzuyu as happy as she was once she got to pet the cows, but Dahyun’s focus drifted quickly to Mrs. Seo, when she was Dahyun’s tutor she seemed relatively young but now it seemed like time was making itself present, mainly in her hair.

“And that’s it for today’s visit, I hope you enjoyed and  you all can take an egg carton on your way out, they’re our specialty” Mrs. Seo said proudly and Dahyun scoffed, eggs were not her specialty, lying was.

Dahyun figured this was her moment to shine, the moment of truth, the turning point that could change everything as she waited for her classmates to empty out the barn full of hens and betrayal in the form of Mrs. Seo.

“Dahyun, you coming?” Tzuyu asked, already halfway out, egg carton on her hands

“Yeah just give me a moment” Dahyun said pretending to tie her shoelaces but she notices how Tzuyu and Chaeyoung weren’t moving “I’ll meet you at the bus” Dahyun told them, they both shrugged and walked away.

Dahyun watched from where she was on the floor as Mrs. Seo walked closer to her.

“Don’t forget your egg carton on your way out” Dahyun’s ex-tutor said

“Like you forgot about me out there with Patsy?” Dahyun faced Mrs. Seo after she stood up

“How do you know the name of my late cow?” the woman asked confused and Dahyun felt hurt and betrayed all over again.

“Do you seriously not remember me?” Dahyun said and watched as Mrs. Seo’s face painted with realization, still she answered

“I have never seen you in my life, what exactly should I remember?” Mrs. Seo said rudely even though they both knew she knew exactly who Dahyun was

Dahyun took a deep breath, she could lash out on her, talk about how much she had hurt her, but she decided it wasn’t worth it, SHE wasn’t worth it, so she did the next best thing she could think of.

“I’m just gonna go ahead and take this then” Dahyun said as she pulled on an egg carton on the very bottom of the pile, causing all cartons on top of it to come crashing down

“Oops!” Dahyun exclaimed exaggeratedly, then she threw the carton she was holding up in the air, as if she had tripped, watching all the eggs come out of it flying everywhere.

“Oh I am so sorry, me and my clumsy ass” Dahyun “apologized” before walking away with a satisfied smile.

Dahyun came to the conclusion that Mrs. Seo was a terrible person but not because she was a tutor and she decided that maybe, just maybe, not all tutors were like Mrs. Seo, or so she hoped because she was ready to open up again.

Maybe her previous actions were petty and childish but she honestly couldn’t bring herself to care, it was therapeutic for her.

Dahyun happily started going up the steps of Chaeyoung and Tzuyu’s bus to meet up with them

“Not so fast Kim Dahyun” Dahyun rolled her eyes, she was probably gonna get in trouble for the egg thing, she turned around to face whatever teacher had stopped her

“Don’t think we didn’t notice you switched buses” Oh, that, Dahyun sighed and reluctantly walked away to her actual bus making sure to wave goodbye to her friends that were watching her from inside the bus.

Dahyun had made up her mind, she was gonna make things right with Mina, the older girl deserved, at least, the benefit of the doubt. Dahyun was standing in front of the library’s door, giving herself a pep talk

“Here I am, barbecue sauce all over my tiddies, I got this, I can DO this, phew, c’mon” she said preparing herself, she opened the doors with a loud push that resonated everywhere

“Shh!” the librarian scolded giving Dahyun yet another dirty look, Dahyun smiled apologetically even though she wasn’t actually sorry

“Hey Mina” Dahyun began once she was standing in front of the girl

“Dah-” Mina started but was cut off when Dahyun raised her finger silently asking her not to talk and to listen instead.

“Before you say anything I wanted to apologize for my behavior the other day, it was rude and uncalled for but getting your trust broken and your head swallowed by a cow is not really something you can easily get over and I’m not justifying my actions by hiding myself behind my trauma, I just thought you deserved an explanation and I would really be honored to be tutored by you if you could please forgive my despicable actions” Dahyun finished and took a deep breath, she was doing it again, the talking really fast thing. Mina stared at her blinking rapidly

“I understood about 3% of all the things you just said so I would appreciate it if you could repeat yourself” Mina answered

And Dahyun did, and she felt so weirdly at ease with Mina that she ended up telling her absolutely everything, she finished her story with eyes full of tears and a lighter heart.

“You know, it is understandable that you lost trust in tutors, I get it, but not everyone you meet has bad intentions, at least I know I don’t” Mina offered Dahyun a tissue and the younger took it, blowing her nose loudly

“Shhh!” they heard the librarian scold them, making them both laugh

Maybe this wasn’t so bad, maybe Tzuyu was right and this could be good for her, and with a smile like Mina’s there was no way this could ever be bad.

A/N: Just a fun lil chapter for y'all, I really enjoyed writing this one so I hope you enjoyed reading it :D 


	11. "Truth" Be Told

“Did you know that a whale’s fart is so powerful it could provide enough energy for an entIRE TOWN?!” Dahyun told Chaeyoung as they both were hanging out in Dahyun’s room

“I… did not know that” Chaeyoung briefly looked at Dahyun who was sprawled out on her bean bag, trying to solve a Rubik’s cube

“Good, ‘cause it ain’t true” Dahyun smiled to herself 

“Then why would you say it?” Chaeyoung questioned putting down her pen

“I don’t know bro, I’m bored, when is Tzuyu coming?” Dahyun pouted and set the cube aside, she wasn’t getting anywhere. 

“She said she’d be here soon” Chaeyoung shrugged 

“Why didn’t she just come here with you?” Dahyun questioned 

“Well I don’t know, Jeong drove me here but Tzuyu said she’d meet me later and that she had something to do first” Chaeyoung grabbed her pen again, determined to keep working on her homework. 

“Oh, speaking of Jeongyeon” Dahyun started, kneeling on the bean bag, aiming to get closer to Chaeyoung “Have you told her about Tzuyu yet?” 

Chaeyoung exhaled slowly while closing her eyes, setting the pen aside, Biology would have to wait. She turned around on the chair and looked at an expectant Dahyun. 

“No, I have not” Chaeyoung answered honestly

“Why? I mean, you guys seem tight, you could just” Dahyun made various hand gestures trying to represent Chaeyoung introducing Jeongyeon to Tzuyu “You know?” Dahyun finished. 

“I’m just waiting for the right time to do so” Chaeyoung said and it wasn’t a lie, she really was just waiting for an opportunity, but was she really? 

Monday rolled out faster than either of the three friends would’ve wanted, all of them agreed that at leAST exam season was over. 

“Whoop, this is where I leave” Dahyun said coming to a top in front of her classroom “I’ll see you when I see you, and Chaeyoung, don’t forget to talk to Jeongyeon” she finished giving Chaeyoung a smile and a thumbs up. 

Chaeyoung replied with a tight smile and a thumbs up of her own. Tzuyu was distracted yawning so she missed out on what just happened. 

“Tell Jeongyeon…” Chaeyoung started muttering to herself as she took a break from class and walked towards the bathroom “How am I supposed to tell Jeongyeon?!” she asked herself distressed. 

“Tell me what?” Jeongyeon asked coming up to Chaeyoung from behind. Chaeyoung jumped startled. 

“Uh- I- nothing, it’s nothing” Chaeyoung smiled nervously, her teeth pressed together tightly. 

“Hmm, sure, if you say so” Jeongyeon shrugged and Chaeyoung was looking at her. 

Chaeyoung noticed movement behind Jeongyeon’s head as the older continued speaking. Chaeyoung narrowed her eyes… Dahyun. She tried to figure out what her friend was trying to tell her through all her ridiculous movements. She was waving her hands around and pushing the air. 

It suddenly clicked inside Chaeyoung’s head, she was urging her to tell Jeongyeon about Tzuyu. So Chaeyoung started discreetly shaking her head no, but Dahyun insisted so Chaeyoung took her hand up to her neck to make a motion for Dahyun to cut it off and then started moving her head to the right as if asking her to leave, Jeongyeon paused mid-sentence 

“Is everything alright?” she asked and Chaeyoung’s eyes snapped towards Jeongyeon briefly. 

“Everything” Chaeyoung shook her head forcefully to the right “is” again “just” again “fine” one last time yet Dahyun wouldn’t leave. 

“Are you sure?” Jeongyeon asked and turned around, luckily for Chaeyoung, her friend was gone in the blink of an eye. 

“Well it seems like this is a bad time so I’ll just… see you around” Jeongyeon gave the shorter girl a tight lipped smile and walked away. 

“You dumbass” Chaeyoung said out loud, a hundred percent sure that Dahyun was still around there somewhere. 

“You should’ve seen your face” Dahyun said in between laughter as she came out from behind a column. 

“Idiot” Chaeyoung rolled her eyes as Dahyun got closer 

“You love me though” Dahyun said batting her eyelashes at her friend 

“Unfortunately” Chaeyoung sighed 

She walked off with Dahyun as she heard her speak, but Chaeyoung’s mind was preoccupied with other things, mainly Jeongyeon and how she’d tell her about the whole Tzuyu thing. 

Chaeyoung sighed deeply as she put her stuff away, band rehearsal was finally over. It had been lethargic to Chaeyoung, for the first time ever, but she just couldn’t stop thinking about telling Jeongyeon, damn Dahyun and her persistence 

“Chae” she heard Jeongyeon so she turned to look at her 

“Mmhmm” Chaeyoung hummed and nodded her head in acknowledgement 

“I noticed you’ve been kinda stressed or something during rehearsal so I wanted to show you something” Jeongyeon smiled and offered her hand for Chaeyoung to take, and she did. 

Jeongyeon led Chaeyoung through the school halls and outside through the east entrance. The school wasn’t really that big but Chaeyoung never took the time to explore it all so this was new territory to her 

There was a door on the side of the building and Chaeyoung noticed they were walking straight to it, Jeongyeon looked around briefly and then proceeded to open the door. 

“C’mon” Jeongyeon said taking a step up the stairs that were previously hidden by a closed door. 

“I feel like we shouldn’t be doing this but I also feel like I shouldn’t question it” Chaeyoung observed looking hesitantly at Jeongyeon, who just laughed at her statement before saying, 

“Let’s go, I promise you won’t regret it” and Chaeyoung walked after the girl, risking getting detention again but, there was just something about Jeongyeon. 

“Ta-da!” Jeongyeon exclaimed once they reached the rooftop, extending her arms by her side. 

“Woah! This is really nice” Chaeyoung looked around the rooftop that was filled with plants and flower, there was a bench on the middle of it all with a clear path that led to it. 

“Oh, I can see the whole school from here!” Chaeyoung exclaimed as she walked closer to the edge. 

“I like to come here and just write whenever my emotions get the best of me” Jeongyeon explained taking a seat on the bench, making sure there was enough space besides her for Chaeyoung to take a seat, and she did after a while. 

“This place is really nice, thanks for bringing me here” Chaeyoung said and Jeongyeon answered with a bright smile and a slight bow of her head “I have a question though, how did you even find it?” Chaeyoung asked genuinely curious.  

“Well you see, it’s kind of a funny story” Jeongyeon scratched the back of her neck as she shifted her position so she was facing Chaeyoung “It all started back when another teacher was in charge of detention, I think her name was Suzy, I also think I might have been the reason why she quit but that’s another story, so as I was saying that one time I got sent to detention unfairly, I didn’t know it was suCH A CRIME TO BUMP INTO SOMEONE AND HAVE THEM DROP THEIR STUPID ANCHOVY SANDWI- sorry” Jeongyeon stopped herself and looked at Chaeyoung “I got carried away, as I was saying yet again, I was in detention but I was honestly super pissed off since I DIDN’T deserve to be there so when the teacher got distracted I sneaked out but on my way out I knocked over a whole bench so, obviously, the teacher saw me and since she was young, not like Mrs. Kang, she began chasing after me” Jeongyeon and Chaeyoung both shared a laugh “I’m laughing now but honestly in that moment I was terrified, anyway, she was close on my heels so I sped up like never before and then I saw it, THE door, I just hoped that, one, it was open and two, that I could reach it before Ms. Suzy turned around the corner and saw me; and both those things happened and soon enough I was hiding behind this weird door, practically praying not to be found, I felt like I was gonna pee and then I took a step back and tumbled, I almost fell, and that’s when I noticed the stairs so I went up and the rest is history” Jeongyeon finished 

“Wow, ,you really escaped detention just like that… that’s wild” Chaeyoung commented 

“It was stupid if I’m being honest, I just got myself more days of detention, but I was so piss-” Jeongyeon cut herself off 

“Do you hear that?” she quickly looked at Chaeyoung and then focused on the sound she had hears, Chaeyoung shook her head, she didn’t hear anything. 

“Someone’s coming” Jeongyeon warned “We should hide” she grabbed Chaeyoung’s hand and led her to one of the many plants there, they hid behind its leaves, watching, waiting. 

Soon enough they saw principal Sunmi walk through the door followed by Ms. Kim, Jeongyeon and Chaeyoung shared a confused look. 

“I’m so glad today is over” Sunmi said as her back hit the bench that was previously occupied by the two jazz buddies. Sunmi was soon accompanied by Yubin who sat by her side. 

“I feel like ever since I took over for my dad I’ve been doing nothing but constantly fuck, like for example those kids who stole the cheesecake, I let them off the hook too easily, who knows what they’re capable of?” Jeongyeon immediately turned her head to Chaeyoung who shrugged in response. 

“You did great, you’ve done great, I can guarantee you those kids are nothing to worry about” Yubin watched as Sunmi sighed deeply “I know what you need right now” Yubin stood up in front of Sunmi and extended her hand for the principal to take, and she did. Once they were both standing up, Yubin placed her hands on Sunmi’s waist while Sunmi’s hands circled Yubin’s neck. They both started slow dancing to a song that existed only in their hearts, laughing like they were on top of the world, even more confusion spread across the two spying friends’ faces. 

Suddenly, Yubin and Sunmi locked lips in a kiss full of emotion, Chaeyoung gasped in surprise, Jeongyeon was quick to cover Chaeyoung’s mouth with her hand and the teachers seemed too engrossed in their kissing so thankfully they didn’t hear anything. 

“We should get going” Yubin said as she detached herself from principal Lee “Wouldn’t wanna be late to your parents’” Sunmi nodded and they both started walking away. 

Silence reigned in the rooftop for a while until Chaeyoung broke it, voicing her thoughts

“What the hell?” she asked rhetorically 

“I’m just as confused as you but c’mon, we gotta get out of here before someone else comes or something” Jeongyeon said and stood up from the crouched position she had taken behind a potted plant. The pair quickly made their way to the bottom of the stairs but when Jeongyeon tried to open the door it wouldn’t budge. 

“Shit?!” Jeongyeon’s voice came mixed with confusion and surprise “I think we’re trapped here” Jeongyeon then looked at Chaeyoung worried. 

“Hold up” Chaeyoung said, quickly taking out her phone and putting it against her ear once she found the number she was looking for, the person on the other side picked up after the second ring. 

“Are you still in school?” Chaeyoung cut straight to the chase 

Jeongyeon watched as Chaeyoung listened and since Jeongyeon herself couldn’t hear the other person she kept wondering what this was all about. 

“Good, good, I need a favor” silence “I know you know how to pick a lock” silence once again “me and Jeongyeon got trapped and the door is locked” silence “yeah, we can wait fifteen minutes” more silence “Just give me a call once you’re coming and I’ll have Jeongyeon guide you to the place, bye, see you” and with that Chaeyoung hung up, she saw the confused expression plastered on the older’s face 

“Dahyun” Chaeyoung answered Jeongyeon’s unspoken question

“Why am I not surprised that she knows how to pick a lock?” Jeongyeon joked and the two of them laughed “I’m glad to see you look more relaxed now” Jeongyeon commented casually but her comment made Chaeyoung start thinking about the whole Jeongyeon/Tzuyu situation again, Chaeyoung sighed 

“There’s something I need to tell you” she said taking a seat on the bottom of the stairs, silently asking Jeongyeon to take a seat too.

“What is it?” Jeongyeon asked once she was sitting next to Chaeyoung, her voice softened and Chaeyoung’s heart made a flip 

“Mmm, so you know Dahyun right?” Jeongyeon nodded but Chaeyoung saw her weirded out expression and honestly, she understood it, not even herself knew what exactly she was going to say “Well I have this other friend” Chaeyoung paused, her heartbeat on her ears, was she really going to fo this right now? “Her name’s Tzuyu” Chaeyoung looked at Jeongyeon who now sported a confused look, she really had no idea where this conversation was going

“Well you see, she has a crush on you but you make her really nervous so Dahyun came up with this ‘plan’ for me to join the jazz band so I could get close to you and then introduce you two” Chaeyoung left out the part about her having a crush on Nayeon, Jeongyeon didn’t need to know that. 

“I see” Jeongyeon’s expression was impossible for Chaeyoung to figure out “So the only reason why we’re friends is ‘cause your friend likes me?” Jeongyeon sounded… hurt 

“No, of course it isn’t, I mean, sure that might have been the reason why I first talked to you but I genuinely enjoy every moment I spend with you” Chaeyoung really didn’t want to lose Jeongyeon’s friendship over this. 

“Okay that’s… reassuring” Jeongyeon was still trying to process everything, she was hurt, the fact that Chaeyoung wanted to pair her up with one of her friends meant that she definitely didn’t have feelings for Jeongyeon, and then the whole ‘Chaeyoung only talked to me because of a dumb plan’ thing wasn’t making her feel any better. 

“So I’m telling you all this because I want to know if you’d go out with Tzuyu…?” Chaeyoung pushed, not taking Jeongyeon’s feelings in consideration, or her unfound ones either, there was no point in not asking now that she had made it this far. 

Jeongyeon seemed to ponder for a moment. The girl she liked didn’t like her back and all her hopes flew out the window, what harm would it make to go on one date?

“If that’s gonna make you happy then I’ll do it” Jeongyeon answered and Chaeyoung didn’t like her choice of words and she definitely didn’t like the tug she felt on her heart so she ignored it, as she so often ignored most of her feelings. 

“It’s settled then, I’ll give her your number so she can text you” Chaeyoung gave Jeongyeon a tight lipped smile and Jeongyeon just nodded in agreement, the atmosphere suddenly felt heavy, The silence only breaking due to the sound of Chaeyoung’s phone ringing 

“Hello?” Chaeyoung said after taking the phone up to her left ear “Dahyun hi, I’ll put you on speaker” 

Jeongyeon guided Dahyun up to the door step by step, through the phone. After the call ended it took Dahyun mere seconds to get the door open. 

“Dahyun! Once again you’re my lifesaver!” Jeongyeon screamed as soon as the door opened, trying to hide the state she was in right now. 

“I should start charging you for saving your ass” Dahyun joked and noticed how quiet Chaeyoung was 

“Do you girls need a ride?” Jeongyeon offered 

“Ugh, yes please, my knees are killing me, dishwashing should be considered an extreme sport” Dahyun complained but Chaeyoung’s response came in the form of a nod. Why was she the one not talking when Jeongyeon was the one hurting? 

Jeongyeon dropped the two younger friends at Dahyun’s house, when they walked up to Dahyun’s room they found Tzuyu in there already, trying to solve the Rubik’s cube Dahyun had given up on the other day. 

“Tzu!” Dahyun screamed as she jumped on top of Tzuyu who occupied Dahyun’s bed, Tzuyu laughed as the cube hit the floor. 

“Get off Dahyun, we saw each other a few hours ago!” Tzuyu complained as she could, seeing as she was laughing 

“I know, but how could I not miss your beautiful face?” Dahyun dramatized 

“Ew, save it for Mi-” Tzuyu’s words were cut off by Chaeyoung, who had just been standing in the middle of the room, watching her friends interact. 

“I told Jeongyeon” Dahyun immediately got off Tzuyu and sat straight up on her bed, her feet not reaching the floor. 

“You did? Wig” Dahyun said but Tzuyu remained silent 

“She agreed to go out with Tzuyu” Chaeyoung added and Dahyun clapped her hands in excitement “I’ll give you her number Tzuyu, so you two can sort out the details” Tzuyu nodded 

She wanted to feel excited about this, she really did but there was something that just wasn’t letting her, was it possible that her so called feelings for Jeongyeon had faded away? Was it possible that maybe, they weren’t even real to begin with? 

“What’s up?” Nayeon answered as she picked up her phone after dropping Kookeu on the floor

“Can I come over?” Nayeon heard Jeongyeon’s unsteady voice on the other side of the line 

“Sure, is everything alright?” Nayeon asked concerned 

“I’ll tell you once I get there” Jeongyeon hung up and left Nayeon to wonder what had happened to her friend.

Soon enough, but not as soon as Nayeon would’ve liked, her doorbell rang and she rushed to answer, the two friends quickly making it to Nayeon’s room. 

Jeongyeon started telling her about the whole Chaeyoung situation as she tried her best to hold back her tears. 

“That seems so out of the blue” Nayeon commented once Jeongyeon was finished “Something doesn’t add up” Nayeon rubbed her chin, deep in thought. 

“It doesn’t matter, I already agreed to go out with her friend” Jeongyeon informed defeated 

“That’s dumb, I can’t believe you’re just gonna choose to settle instead of going after Chaeyoung” Nayeon stated the obvious 

“I already lost all hope with Chae, might as well see where this date goes” Jeongyeon shrugged, she was sure she was making the right decision, Nayeon discreetly rolled her eyes, Jeongyeon was being dumb and she knew that they both knew that. 

“Who is she anyway?” Nayeon said as she inspected her nails, she wasn’t actually interested but she was trying to be a decent friend. 

“I think her name is… Tzuyu? Yeah, I think that’s it” Jeongyeon finished nodding and Nayeon started choking with her own saliva, well now she was interested 

“I stand my ground, you shouldn’t go out with her, it’s dumb and someone is bound to get hurt” Nayeon tried to keep her tone neutral as to not raise any suspicion 

“I have nothing to lose” Jeongyeon said putting an end to their conversation. Nayeon needed to find a way to stop that date, not only for her but for Jeongyeon and Tzuyu as well. 

“Did you bring it?” Sana asked Momo the next morning while the four friends were gathered at Nayeon’s locker 

“I forgot” Momo said nonchalantly 

“Momo!” Sana scolded and Momo brought up her index finger 

“But!” she exclaimed, proud of herself, but stopped talking after 

“But…” Sana urged 

“There’s a but?” Jeongyeon asked pretending to know what they were talking about 

“As long as I’m alive there will always be a butt” Nayeon joked making a total of negative five people laugh 

“Not with your flat ass there won’t” Jeongyeon said making Sana and Momo laugh, Nayeon scoffed 

“Says you” she crossed her arms and rolled her eyes. The line between joking and seriousness suddenly felt blurry to Sana. 

“Yes, says I and my un-flat ass” Jeongyeon joked back 

“The only un-flat your ass is, is unflattering” Nayeon’s furrowed brows were enough of an indication to Sana that Nayeon was no longer joking 

Nayeon was feeling certain resentment against Jeongyeon, because Tzuyu liked her, because she was going out with Tzuyu, because she had something Nayeon couldn’t have. 

“Periodt” Sana blurted hoping to ease some of the tension that had built up “Anyway Momo, you were saying…” 

“Ah yeah, that I forgot BUT I asked Jun and he brought some extra ones and he said he’d lend them to us” Jeongyeon still had no idea what they were talking about and she was completely oblivious to Nayeon’s fuming. 

“Oh that’s good, that’s real good” Sana said and the four started walking towards the cafeteria. 

“I think there’s melon bread on the menu today Jeongyeonnie” Momo informed her friend as she knew how much she liked it “If we run we’ll be able to get some before it runs out” 

“Nah, it’s fine, I’ll just get the regular bread” Jeongyeon answered with a smile 

“Or you could go after what you want for once” Nayeon chuckled humorlessly 

“I know that even if I run I’m not gonna be able to get it so maybe I just don’t wanna put in effort when I know it’ll be useless” Jeongyeon defended 

“If you don’t try how do you know it will be useless?” Nayeon bit back 

“Maybe I’m done trying” Jeongyeon said 

“Did you even actually try to begin with? Now you’re gonna hurt yourself and potentially someone else, but it’s okay, keep on being a selfish coward, settle if that’s what you want but don’t come crying when you get hurt ‘cause maybe I’m done caring” Nayeon’s face was red with anger, she knew her emotions were getting the best of her but this all needed to be said. This wasn’t just about her being jealous that Tzuyu liked Nayeon, this was about Nayeon wanting to protect her friend and wanting to see her happy, and she knew Tzuyu was not Jeongyeon’s happiness. 

“Sana” Momo whispered in Sana’s direction

“Yes Momoring?” Sana whispered back 

“They’re no longer talking about bread, are they?” Sana shook her head no, though she had no idea where this was all coming from. 

Nayeon’s eyes kept wandering about, looking for a certain brunette she needed to have a word with. 

Jeongyeon sat down with her lunch tray, she didn’t make it on time for melon bread and as much as everyone was trying to pretend Nayeon and Jeongyeon’s little disagreement earlier didn’t happen, the atmosphere between the four was definitely tense. 

“How does giving up taste?” Nayeon asked as Jeongyeon took a bite out of her slice of bread 

“Nayeon” Jeongyeon began in a warning tone “Let it go, it doesn’t concern you” 

“Fuck it, I’m done trying to reason with you, have fun breaking your own heart” Nayeon finished and got up the table, she had finally spotter Tzuyu making her way out of the cafeteria. She followed close behind. 

“What the hell do you think you’re doing?” Nayeon shouted as the bathroom door closed behind her. Tzuyu hesitantly turned around 

“Well I’m in a bathroom, do you really wanna know?” Tzuyu mocked with a smirk and a raise of her eyebrows once she saw who was shouting at her, Nayeon tried her hardest not to laugh, it was not the best opening she could’ve come up with. 

“Now is not the time for your stupid sarcasm, what do you think you’re doing going out with Jeongyeon?” Nayeon rephrased 

“Oh, so going out with your best friend was all it took to get you to talk to me again… noted for future reference” Tzuyu threw Nayeon a smile, the older rolled her eyes 

“You shouldn’t be distracted with dating, not right now when we have regionals to worry about” Nayeon delivered her practiced speech perfectly. Tzuyu chuckled humorlessly as she closed the distance between her and Nayeon. 

“No Nayeon, YOU” she poked Nayeon’s shoulder with two fingers for added effect and left them there “have regionals to worry about, I can do whatever the fUCK I WANT!” Tzuyu finished, raising her voice towards the end, storming out of the bathroom. 

Tzuyu was mad, Tzuyu was mad for a lot of reasons. She was mad that Nayeon reminded her of her date with Jeongyeon, she was mad Nayeon only talked to her for something as stupid as this, she was mad Nayeon tried to tell her what to do, but mostly, she was mad that she couldn’t bring herself to hate the other girl, that she found it impossible to do so even when she had every right to. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow, I am extremely sorry for the amount of time it took me to update this, I still hope you'll enjoy it and since I'm on vacation now I'll try my best to update more frequently, thanks for waiting :( 


	12. Start Of Something New

Sana was resting her back against a row of lockers outside of the bathroom she had followed Nayeon to. After the older’s outburst in the cafeteria, Sana decided she figure out what was going on. She had known Nayeon and Jeongyeon for quite some time now and she had never once seen them fight, at least not seriously. 

As Sana gathered courage to go inside the bathroom and face Nayeon, she saw Tzuyu walking out of said bathroom, the girl was fuming, Sana even sank further into the lockers out of fear, she didn’t know why but she suspected Nayeon had something to do with it. 

She saw Tzuyu walk away and that’s when she decided to go inside, the sight she was welcomed to nearly broke her heart. Nayeon was crying against the sink, just a few silent tears but still, this was the first time Sana had seen Nayeon so… vulnerable. Sana always admired Nayeon’s emotional strength, she looked up to it, so seeing even this few tears rolling down her cheeks completely took her off guard. 

“Nayeon?” Sana asked cautiously as she approached the crying girl 

“Sana, hey!” Nayeon turned around and straightened her back, quickly wiping her tears, trying to hide the fact that she was crying with an unconvincing smile 

“What’s going on Nayeon?” Sana asked 

“Nothing” Nayeon lied straight to Sana’s face, Sana shook her head 

“It clearly is not nothing, what was that out there with Jeong?” Sana pushed

“She’s acting stupid” Nayeon stated 

“So are you” Sana informed, just in case Nayeon hadn’t noticed 

“Maybe, but it’s something she needed to hear” Nayeon defended her actions even if deep down she was being eaten away with guilt for the way she had been handling things lately. Not only with Jeongyeon. 

“Look” Sana began seriously “I don’t know what’s going on or what you two are fighting about but, there’s ways to say this kind of stuff and that out there, it wasn’t it, it’s okay if you don’t want to tell me but you should work it out with Jeongyeon” Sana advised, her voice softening a little since Nayeon still looked so small standing in front of her. 

“Mmm” was all Nayeon answered, she was a stubborn one after all

“You know you can tell me anything” Sana said as she saw her friend seemingly consumed by her thoughts

“Not this Sana, but thanks” Nayeon said, she couldn’t possibly unburden herself without revealing things that she wasn’t ready to. 

“Well, if you ever wanna talk about it, I’m here” Sana finished enveloping Nayeon in a hug 

“Thanks” Nayeon answered sincerely, trying her hardest to hold back the tears forming in her eyes, Nayeon hated being hugged when she felt like crying but it was nice to be reminded that she could count on Sana, after a moment she decided she could at least tell her half of the story. 

“Jeongyeon is gonna go out with someone that isn’t Chaeyoung” Nayeon said after their hug broke 

“What?!” Sana exclaimed, clearly taken aback “I thought things were going alright with Chaeyoung” of course all of Jeongyeon’s friends were aware of her situation with Chaeyoung 

“I thought so too, but it turns out she only wanted to set her up with one of her friends” Nayeon shrugged 

“Who? Dahyun? No way…” Sana said in disbelief, well she definitely didn’t see that coming 

“Who?” Nayeon asked, she had no idea who this Dahyun girl was

“She’s Chaeyoung’s friend, Chaeyoung invited her over to Jeongyeon’s that one Friday to watch movies…” Sana tried helping Nayeon clear her memory 

“I- didn’t go that time remember?” Nayeon told her, blushing a little as she remembered all that went down with Tzuyu that day. 

“Oh, right, sorry” Sana giggled “So if not Dahyun then who?” 

“Tzuyu” Nayeon said and the urge to start crying came back but she swallowed it down. 

“Tzuyu? Really?” Sana furrowed her brows “How come she wasn’t there that Friday too then?” Sana wondered out loud and Nayeon’s blush became even more evident, but Sana didn’t seem to pick up on it 

“Uh, no idea” Nayeon cleared her throat awkwardly “Anyway that’s why I’m so mad at Jeongyeon, she’s not even gonna try to make things work with Chaeyoung, I’m scared she’s gonna break her own heart” and Tzuyu’s… Nayeon thought but Sana only heard a half-assed truth. 

“I see, I get that you’re trying to protect her, like back in the day, but I think she’s old enough, she can take care of herself now” Sana gave the older a sympathetic smile. 

“Yeah, I know” Nayeon answered with a nostalgic gleam in her eyes “I’ll apologize to her, thanks Sana” Nayeon said sincerely

There was still something that didn’t make sense to Sana. Why was Nayeon crying? Sure, she could just assume it was due to her fight with Jeongyeon but the fact that she found Nayeon crying seconds after she saw a fuming Tzuyu walking out the same bathroom was too much of a coincidence to not be connected. Sana decided not to poke any further. 

The day Tzuyu had been dreading finally rolled around, Friday, her date with Jeongyeon was today and all she was feeling was the urge to just get it over with as soon as possible. 

“Is that what you’re wearing for later tonight?” Dahyun said as Chaeyoung opened her locker, Tzuyu looked down at her outfit. She had dressed as if it was just any other day, because to her, it was. 

“Um, yeah?” Tzuyu answered unsure, was Dahyun expecting her to like show up with a dress or what? 

“But, that’s just your regular clothes!” Dahyun exclaimed baffled 

“It’s not like we’re going to a fancy restaurant or anything, we’re just gonna get some ice-cream” Tzuyu shrugged wanting to drop the subject already, Chaeyoung was annoyed by their current topic of conversation as well, but Dahyun didn’t want to let it go 

“Well I just thought that seeing as you’re going out with your crush you’d put in some more effort” Dahyun answered with a shrug of her own 

“Okay Dahyun, that’s enough” Chaeyoung said picking up on Tzuyu’s uncomfortableness, she closed her locker door “If she feels comfortable this way I don’t really see the problem” 

The three friends started moving, the last thing they wanted was to be late to class, Dahyun was deep in thought, when Chaeyoung told them that she had finally told Jeongyeon she convinced herself that everything about her plan was working out just fine, but now she feels like maybe, just maybe, that talk with Jihyo is a must now because there was still something that felt off. 

Tzuyu’s cheer practice finally ended, and even though Tzuyu was used to it by now, having Nayeon not even look at her was annoying, how was she just gonna shout at her for dating and then completely ignore her the following days? Besides, she didn’t really get along with the rest of the squad so practice was literally torture. 

As Tzuyu was putting her things away in the locker room, Sana and Momo were giggling besides her, it felt like those two were always up to something 

“Bye Tzuyu” Sana said as they walked past her on their way out 

“Good luck on your date” Momo said followed by a bright smile, Tzuyu sighed 

“Thanks” she muttered, but she had a feeling they didn’t hear her 

“You’re going on a date?!” Jun practically screamed appearing next to Tzuyu out of nowhere 

“Um, yeah” 

“Aw that is so cute” Jun replied excitedly and Tzuyu wondered how this boy was always so excited about everything “Who’s the lucky one?” he paused thinking for a moment “Oh my god, is it Nayeon?!” Jun asked jumping up and down a little, Tzuyu’s head whipped in his direction so quickly that she felt a sharp pain on her neck, she rubbed it 

“What? No, I’m not going out with her” Tzuyu cleared up wondering why he’d even think that in the first place. She put the last of her stuff inside her locker and closed it carefully

“Huh? Then who? If you don’t mind me asking” Jun said confused, he really thought there was something going on with Tzuyu and their head cheerleader. 

Tzuyu did mind him asking, she hated the fact that so many people knew about this dumb date and that everyone seemed excited about it, everyone but her. She didn’t want to be rude to Jun though, not when he was the only one who had attempted to actually talk to her. 

“I’m going out with Jeongyeon” Tzuyu told him and saw as his face shifted from confusion to concentration, he was definitely deep in thought. 

“Is that Nayeon’s best friend?” He said after a while, Tzuyu nodded 

“Mm, I see” he said as he raised his eyebrows “Well don’t let me distract you any longer, I’m sure you’re eager to meet up with her” Jun said and the way he voiced his words made Tzuyu a bit uncomfortable, like he knew she wasn’t really eager about it, but there was no way he knew that. 

Tzuyu saw in the distance the door to the music room, where she had agreed to meet up with Jeongyeon, she spotted Dahyun, Chaeyoung and Jeongyeon casually talking among themselves in front of said door. 

This was it, she thought to herself, she took a deep breath before closing the distance that separated her from the group of friends.

“Tzuyu, about time you showed up!” Dahyun teased and Tzuyu shook her head as she smiled slightly 

“Hey” Jeongyeon greeted offering a smile 

“Hi” Tzuyu greeted back, Chaeyoung looked at Jeongyeon and then at Tzuyu, this was really happening, but why was she feeling so negatively about it? 

“Shall we?” Jeongyeon asked pointing towards the exit, Tzuyu nodded and they walked away 

“They’re so awkward with each other, it’s so cute” Dahyun gushed, Chaeyoung looked at her with furrowed brows

“Of course they’ll be awkward with each other, they’ve never met before” Chaeyoung wondered what exactly was it that Dahyun thought was so cute because to her it wasn’t 

“They look so good together too” Dahyun began completely disregarding Chaeyoung’s statement as the two walked towards the kitchen where dirty dishes awaited Dahyun’s arrival “They’ll definitely be a visual couple once they get together” 

“Mmm” Chaeyoung answered absentmindedly, she really wasn’t paying too much attention to Dahyun because if she did she would end up getting even more annoyed 

“I even gave them a ship name…” Dahyun made a dramatic pause “Jeongtzu, it’s perfect, just like them together” Dahyun said, she really didn’t fully believe everything that she was saying but she was beginning to grow tired of her friends hiding things from her, because she was sure they weren’t telling her something. 

“Seriously Dahyun, what have you been smoking? Or have you been hanging out with Kaitelyn lately?” Chaeyoung half-joked 

“No, but” Dahyun continued pushing “Don’t you see it Chaeyoung? This could be the star-” Dahyun and Chaeyoung both looked at each other, Dahyun smirked in Chaeyoung’s direction 

“Kim Dahyun, don’t you dare” Chaeyoung warned but Dahyun ignored her

“This could be the start” Dahyun began screaming, completely off-key, her love for High School Musical had won the battle over her curiosity “of something new” she continued to sing into her invisible mic “Chaeyoung sing with me” she demanded as she put her mic against Chaeyoung’s mouth

“It feels so right” Chaeyoung sang, giving in “to be here with you” both friends shouted in unison 

Chaeyoung was grateful for the small distraction. How could she ever get annoyed at Dahyun? That was her best friend and she wouldn’t have it any other way. 

Jeongyeon and Tzuyu arrived at the ice-cream place after the most quiet car ride of Tzuyu’s life. They walked up the counter to order and after they both had their cones, Jeongyeon paid. The two of them then took a seat in one of the tables there. 

“How much do I owe you? For the ice-cream…” Tzuyu asked reaching inside her pocket looking for her money 

“It’s my treat” Jeongyeon told her and Tzuyu smiled thankfully 

“So Tzuyu, tell me a bit more about yourself” Jeongyeon tried to break the ice. Tzuyu shrugged 

“I like dogs” was all Tzuyu said before continuing to lick her chocolate ice-cream, Jeongyeon was having a hard time trying to strike up a conversation with the younger, she thought perhaps the other girl was just nervous but nothing Jeongyeon said seemed to be enough to get the conversation flowing 

“Do you have any hobbies or interests?” Jeongyeon asked again after a rather long silence 

Tzuyu though about it for a bit but the only thing on her mind right now was Nayeon for whatever reason, perhaps she was just bothered that she still wasn’t talking to her, anyway she answered the next best thing she could come up with. 

“I like cheerleading” it wasn’t entirely a lie, and since Tzuyu really didn’t want Jeongyeon to ask any further questions on that matter she added “How about you?” 

“I really like Lego, building and collecting them” Jeongyeon answered smiling brightly, other than music Lego was one of her favorite things 

“Lego? Isn’t that a bit childish? Don’t you have any actual hobbies?” Tzuyu blurted out before she could stop herself and by the look on Jeongyeon’s face, she knew she should’ve stopped herself. 

Jeongyeon dropped Tzuyu off at her house. She finally got her to start talking a little more and other than her basically ridiculing her interest for Lego, she was quite nice, but the whole time she was with her she kept comparing her to Chaeyoung. She wasn’t really looking forward to the next day, but she’d do it if Chaeyoung asked her to.

On Tzuyu’s side, she did feel certain awkwardness throughout the whole date, but after her uncalled for comment conversation began to flow a little between them, she could tell Jeongyeon was a great person, yet she couldn’t see herself with her as more than a friend. Deep, deep down, hidden somewhere in Tzuyu’s subconsciousness, laid the reason, Im Nayeon, but that’s something Tzuyu had yet to figure out. 

‘How was the date Tzu?’ Chaeyoung read the text Dahyun sent to their group chat as she got herself ready for bed. She couldn’t stop herself from rolling her eyes and spitting out her toothpaste a little more forcefully than usual. Tzuyu answered with a zipped lips emoji and Chaeyoung wanted to throw her phone against the nearest wall. What if they kiss? What if the date was a big success?... What if they were going to get married? Chaeyoung shook her head to get rid of such ridiculous thoughts. What was it that bothered her so much about the situation? 

Chaeyoung started her Monday morning absolutely pissed off due to her dream the previous night, she doesn’t exactly remember what her dream was about but she was sure that it featured Jeongyeon and Tzuyu, together, as a couple…

She ate her breakfast that morning with a frown plastered on her face, her favorite cereal didn’t taste as good that morning. She kissed her mom goodbye with the same frown and she pedaled to school like that too, she was doing so unconsciously so when her friends asked her about it she was confused for a moment before she softened her features.

“Are you going to tell us how the date went now?” Dahyun asked from behind her locker door, she wondered what went down, sure, but now was the perfect time to test out her friends’ reactions to the whole situation 

“No” Tzuyu simply answered 

“Oh come on! You had me on the edge of my seat the whole weekend!” Dahyun complained even if it was only half true 

“And we’re gonna keep it that way” Tzuyu teased, but she really did have no intention of telling them anything about it, there was not much to tell anyway 

“Mmm” Dahyun thought for a moment… Bingo! “So when are you going to introduce Nayeon to Chaeyoung?” Dahyun patted herself on the back when Chaeyoung and Tzuyu’s attention quickly drifted to her as if she had just said something she shouldn’t have, there was the reaction she was expecting 

“What?” Dahyun asked innocently, feeling their friends’ heavy stares through the locker door 

“I’m not really too close to Nayeon, or at all actually, she’s just…. unreachable” Tzuyu admitted sadly, it was true, despite the fact that they had even once shared a bed Tzuyu still felt like the distance between them was abysmal. 

“Oh really?” Dahyun thought back to that one Friday she saw Nayeon and Tzuyu, together, and how they DEFINITELY looked close, for a second she thought of putting Tzuyu on the spot but she backed out on the las moment, there was no need to start an argument or whatever right now, besides Tzuyu would probably just deny it anyway, so Dahyun settled for saying 

“Well you better step up” while she closed her locker door 

Mondays for Chaeyoung were exhausting for a multitude of reasons and on a normal situation, jazz practice would’ve been the place where she blew off some steam form the negative feelings she had been having lately. But the fact that Jeongyeon was there with her pretty face and unbothered smile certainly were factors that didn’t let Chaeyoung enjoy the practice. 

She put her keyboard away and took her backpack, quickly throwing it over her shoulder. She saw Jeongyeon was distracted talking to Jae… perfect, she thought. She speed walked towards the exit hoping Jeongyeon wouldn’t see her, she really didn’t want to talk to her. She was safely out of the music room, quickly making her way to the main entrance. 

“Chae!” Chaeyoung stopped on her tracks and debated briefly over turning around or walking away as if she hadn’t heard anything, but since she had already stopped she decided to turn around and face Jeongyeon, who had already caught up to her. 

“Jeong” Chaeyoung answered and wondered why suddenly there was a lump in her throat and why she felt the sudden urge to break down crying 

“How’s it going? You were so quiet during practice I almost thought you weren’t there” Jeongyeon joked trying to lighten the mood, she was sure she wasn’t the only one who noticed how thick the air between them felt. 

“Look Jeong” Chaeyoung began trying her hardest to stop her voice from quivering “I’m really not up for conversation right now, I’ll see you around” she finished and turned around walking away. 

Tears started rolling down her eyes and onto her cheeks, she forcefully wiped them away with the sleeve of her blue sweater. Why the hell was she crying? 

“Where’s Chaeyoung?” Dahyun asked and looked at the invisible watch on her wrist “Yubin is gonna get mad at me again for being late” 

Last Friday after sending Tzuyu off on her date, Dahyun got so caught up singing High School Musical songs with Chaeyoung that she arrived twenty minutes late to the kitchen, Yubin was NOT happy about it. 

“I suppose she’s not coming” Tzuyu concluded after quickly scanning their surroundings “I’ll escort you” Tzuyu said and extended her arm for Dahyun to take 

“Ah” Dahyun took a hold of Tzuyu’s arm “And they dare say chivalry is dead” Dahyun said making Tzuyu laugh 

Chaeyoung was sitting in a random spot at school, she didn’t really pay much attention to where she was going. She was plucking the grass beneath her and throwing it away, occasionally wiping her nose and tears with her sleeve. The sun that was hitting Chaeyoung’s face was blocked by an extended hand offering a tissue

“You’ll ruin your sweater if you keep using it like that” the stranger that suddenly occupied Chaeyoung’s vision said. 

“Thanks” Chaeyoung took the tissue out of his hand and dried her tears then blew her nose 

“No problem, I usually come here to sketch so, do you mind?” he asked signaling to the grass besides Chaeyoung, she nodded, there was plenty of space but she should admit the company of someone she didn’t know was quite refreshing 

The two strangers remained in a comfortable silence, as Chaeyoung kept on plucking and throwing grass, she couldn’t stop her eyes from drifting towards the boy’’s drawing

“That’s really good” Chaeyoung pointed at his sketchbook 

“Thanks” he said as he looked at her briefly “It’s just a sketch, I can’t wait to bring it to life” his eyes lit up as he talked about it and looked at the horizon 

“I’m sure it’ll turn out great” Chaeyoung smiled as well 

“You can see it when it’s done” The boy said excitedly but keeping his composure “The art club is holding an exhibition by the end of the month, you should come” he informed

“I think I definitely will” Chaeyoung said grateful that this stranger had managed to make her smile 

“I’m Minghao by the way” he extended his hand towards Chaeyoung 

“Chaeyoung” she said as they shook hands 

Jeongyeon was confused as she walked through the parking lot headed for her car. She didn’t understand why Chaeyoung had stormed off like that. Perhaps she just had a bad day and wanted to just head home already. Jeongyeon nodded, that was probably it. 

She kept walking and as she did so she saw two people sitting together, talking and laughing which made her smile but her smile dropped quickly as she got closer. That was Chaeyoung. ‘She said she was not up for conversation but maybe she just wasn’t up for conversation with me’ Jeongyeon thought to herself and kept on walking, had she done something wrong? Was Chaeyoung mad at her for some reason? 

“So how come you didn’t sign up for the art club?” Minghao asked, they had been talking for a good thirty minutes about their favorite subject: art 

“Well…” Chaeyoung began 

“It’s okay if you don’t want to tell me” Minghao gave her a sincere smile 

“Oh no, that’s not it, I’m just trying to organize my thoughts” Chaeyoung smiled back 

“And so I set them up right? But for some reason I feel uneasy, mad and annoyed about it, I don’t know” Chaeyoung finished and was thankful to be able to rant about it to someone that wasn’t directly involved with this mess 

“Is that why you were crying?” Minghao asked 

“I don’t know, maybe, it’s just that… the moment I faced Jeongyeon all I wanted to do was cry, I’m not entirely sure why” Chaeyoung admitted dejected, at least she didn’t feel like crying anymore

“What exactly is it that made you feel that way about um Tzuyu and Jeongyeon going out?” Minghao questioned again, he had a hunch of the reason was but he wanted Chaeyoung to figure it out on her own 

“I think I mainly was bothered by the way Dahyun was acting about this whole situation, all in our face about it and yeah” 

“So Tzuyu and Jeongyeon going out isn’t the problem? You’re okay with that?” Minghao was trying to ask the right questions that would help Chaeyoung realize the reasons behind all of the emotions she had been feeling 

Chaeyoung paused to think for a moment 

“I mean, Tzuyu is one of my best friends and of course I want to see her happy” she paused again, her mind moving quickly “And then there’s Jeongyeon, I’ve only known her for a little amount of time but, she already means a lot to me and I want her to be happy too, because her smile… it’s really pretty, you know, sometimes when she talks about something she likes she moves her hands around a lot and her eyes get all sparkly” Chaeyoung started going off topic without noticing “And she seems like such a badass but really she’s a softie who loves Lego and then someti-” Chaeyoung cut herself off 

“Oh…?” Chaeyoung’s shoulders slumped down as she came to a frightening realization 

“Oh?” Minghao asked Chaeyoung even though he already knew what her oh meant 

“I- I think I like Jeongyeon, like LIKE like her” Chaeyoung sighed 

“You think?” Minghao half mocked

“Screw that, I’m sure I do” Chaeyoung admitted defeated 

“That explains everything then, don’t you think?” Minghao told her and Chaeyoung nodded 

“I guess it does but… I’m in deep shit” Chaeyoung sighed “this sucks” 

“Feelings do most of the time” Minghao agreed, his sketch long forgotten 

“What am I supposed to do?” Chaeyoung asked for her new friend’s advice 

“I can’t tell you what to do, that’s something for you to figure out yourself and I’ll be happy to support you with whatever” Minghao finished sincerely, and even if that’s not what Chaeyoung wanted to hear he was right, it was up to her and only her to decide what to do. 

“Thanks, for everything” Chaeyoung shared a smile with him 

After much thought as Chaeyoung made her way home, she concluded that the best thing she could do in this situation was to keep her distance from Jeongyeon in hopes that it would help her get rid of the newly discovered feelings Chaeyoung had for her.


	13. F for Flirting and Failing

“I can’t believe it’s barely Tuesday” Dahyun complained setting down her tray next to Tzuyu’s 

“I know!” Chaeyoung agreed “Monday felt like a whole ass week” she finished. Tzuyu, who had been watching Dahyun, furrowed her eyebrows.

“Aren’t you supposed to be in your tutoring session?” Tzuyu asked the pale girl sitting next to her. 

“Yeah, at least I was supposed to be there, Mina told me this morning that she couldn’t make it” Dahyun shrugged 

“Speaking of” Dahyun started taking advantage of their current topic “I need advice” she smiled at her friends, showing her teeth 

“Is this about Mina?” Chaeyoung asked with a smirk

“She just said speaking of right after mentioning Mina, what else could it be about?” Tzuyu questioned her friend 

“I just find it impossible to talk to her about anything that’s not World History” Dahyun sighed lowly, slumping her shoulders down “I barely say hi and she’s already talking about Napoleon Botticelli or whatever” she complained 

“Bonaparte” Chaeyoung corrected but Dahyun paid her no mind 

“Could you try asking for like a five minute break? And then talk to her during it?” Tzuyu suggested even though her attention, and her eyes, seemed to be focused elsewhere 

“It’s just a twenty minute recess, I doubt she’ll agree to it” Dahyun told her friends, she didn’t know Mina that much but she did know that the older girl liked to make the most out of every single minute

“You could try to flirt with her occasionally” Chaeyoung suggested “and subtly” she added because she knew Dahyun and how extra she could be, especially when nervous. 

“That could work except for the fact that I don’t know shit about flirting” Dahyun admitted 

“Neither do we, sorry bro” Chaeyoung replied and Dahyun came to the conclusion that she’d have to ask for someone else’s advice and she already knew who could help her. 

Nayeon’s leg had been bouncing up and down for the past five minutes, she was trying to enjoy her lunch but Tzuyu’s heavy stare was making her uncomfortable, as much as she tried to ignore it she could feel it burning a hole through the side of her face. 

“I’m going to the bathroom” Nayeon declared after abruptly getting up from her seat. She did have to go to the bathroom so this was the perfect excuse to get out of the cafeteria and away from Tzuyu’s persistent stare.

Nayeon was already done peeing when she heard laughter coming from outside of the green door. Nayeon sat still on top of the closed toilet, her instinct telling her she shouldn’t come out of the bathroom stall just yet. 

“Did you see Shownu’s fit today?” A voice spoke and Nayeon couldn’t recognize it so she assumed it wasn’t anyone she knew

“What a man!” a different voice spoke this time 

“I can’t believe that bitch Nayeon keeps turning him down” the first girl spoke again, Nayeon’s shoulders immediately tensed 

If there was one thing Nayeon hated about being “popular” it was exactly this, people who didn’t even know her talking about her like their words held the absolute truth, always painting Nayeon as a stuck up bitch without never even talking to her. 

“Either she’s blind or a lesbian” the second girl joked and Nayeon started feeling unwell 

“Ew, she probably IS a lesbian, not that I’d be surprised honestly, I mean, her best friends are a bunch of lesbians” they giggled again and continued talking all sort of bad things about Nayeon, all of which were absolute bullshit.

She had spent most of her life thinking that lesbian was a bad word, seeing as she only ever heard it in between whispers and said with a tone that always made it sound like it was wrong. It took her a lot of time to accept herself and to embrace that word but now listening to how this girls were using it, mocking it, made her reevaluate everything she had convinced herself to be real. 

Nayeon’s breathing started to become uneven, she was finding it hard to breathe, the walls of the bathroom stall closing in on her. She knew exactly what was happening, the voices and laughter became distant until they faded and Nayeon desperately opened the door. Her heart beating faster with each passing second, she sprinted out of the bathroom and through the halls. Why was everyone watching her? Did they know? They probably knew, those girls probably spread the word, why else would everyone be staring at her as she dashed through the hallways? She gasped for air, the exit looked so close but it felt like the distance between her and the exit door kept increasing the more she ran. 

Finally, she was out, she tried to even her breathing. ‘C’mon Nayeon, c’mon, five things you can see’ she thought to herself as she kept trying to even her breathing ‘grass, the sky, a trashcan, a couple kissing, a bird, four things you can feel, anger, disgust, distress, confusion’ her breathing started becoming more stable ‘three things I can hear, the wind, birds chirping and people talking, two things I can smell, trash and cologne, something I can taste’ Nayeon thought back to her lunch earlier ‘grape soda’ her breathing was completely even now and she took a few more deep breaths. 

Nayeon was so mad at herself, she had been doing so good, she even went through exam week without any incidents but now this. Just the thought of anyone in this hell hole finding out about her sexuality scared the crap out of Nayeon, she needed to do something to take control of the situation and she needed to do it fast. 

“Hey Sana?” Dahyun greeted hesitantly once she reached the table the older was sitting at. 

“Dahyun-ah! Hi” Sana answered smiling brightly, as usual, making Dahyun instantly feel at ease 

“I was wondering if we could talk uh” Dahyun side-eyed Jeongyeon and Momo who were engrossed in their conversation “privately” she finished 

“Sure” Sana answered moving to an empty table, taking a seat, the unusual pair earned a couple of stares from people at the cafeteria.  

“What do you wanna talk about?” Sana asked eyeing Dahyun curiously, she thought and thought but couldn’t come up with anything the younger could want to talk to her about, they barely even knew each other. 

“So there’s this girl” Dahyun began and Sana’s interest heightened “I have a crush on her but I have no idea how to um approach her, I guess” Dahyun scratched her head

Sana felt honored that Dahyun came to her for advice on this topic, she felt like an older sister helping her baby sister with her first crush

“Mmhmm, could you tell me a bit more about her and the situation?” Sana asked looking to give herself more information before jumping into the whole giving advice thing.

“Well, I saw her a few times around school, been crushing on her since the very first time I saw her, then she became my History tutor because life’s a joke” Dahyun looked at Sana to make sure she was listening, the older nodded as if letting Dahyun know that she was “but all we ever talk about is History!” Dahyun finished frustrated making Sana crack a smile. 

“Sounds to me like you just need an ice breaker” Dahyun stared at Sana, waiting for her to elaborate “Look you two are both just warming up to each other I suppose, but once you break the ice I’m sure talking to her will become easier but you need to take that first step, like for example, you could flirt with her or try saying something funny to lighten the mood” Dahyun nodded funny was her specialty, flirting on the other hand… 

“I don’t know how to flirt” Dahyun admitted hoping Sana could teach her something 

“Then go for a pick up line, those make for perfect ice breakers” Sana made a pause to take a breath “you say she’s your History tutor right?” Dahyun nodded eagerly hoping whatever Sana said next would magically get Mina to like her back 

“You could say something like, are you from Paris? Because Eiffel for you” Sana threw Dahyun finger guns “without the finger guns, obviously” she clarified 

“I don’t get it” Dahyun said after staring blankly at Sana for a moment

“The Eiffel tower is in Paris… it’s wordplay” Sana explained 

“Oh, I see, well thanks for the help Sana” Dahyun bowed after standing up 

“Keep me updated!” Sana shouted as Dahyun walked away 

Dahyun wasn’t sure that pick up line would work so she decided to just go for the saying something funny option, that seemed a lot more like herself after all. 

Nayeon finally made it to the soccer field and surely Shownu was there. Nayeon marched up to him 

“We need to talk” she said and dragged him by the hood of his sleeveless hoodie away from the field and under the bleachers, leaving Shownu’s friends howling and whistling. Nayeon rolled her eyes, how mature of them. 

“I’m sorry about them” Shownu said fixing his hoodie, he was referring to his friends’ actions which left Nayeon to wonder why such a sweet guy like Shownu had such idiotic friends.  

“It’s fine, I don’t mind them” Nayeon assured dismissing the whole situation with a wave of her hand. 

“So what is this about?” Shownu wondered out loud 

“We should date” Nayeon stated firmly 

“Sorry, what?” Shownu thought he most likely heard her wrong, did Nayeon, THE Im Nayeon just say they should date? 

“We. Should. Date” Nayeon repeated slower this time. Shownu furrowed his brows and quickly scanned Nayeon’s face 

“Where is this coming from? ‘Cause I know you don’t like me so like… why?” Shownu asked looking to make sense of the situation 

“I need your help, I mean we wouldn’t date for real obviously, I just need you to pretend to date me for a while” Nayeon told Shownu who was deep in thought, she knew he wouldn’t agree until Nayeon gave him a solid explanation and since she couldn’t reveal the actual reason she lied, something she found herself doing quite often lately. 

“I’m trying to make someone jealous” she said 

“Oh, cool” Shownu exclaimed “Sure thing then, I’ll help you, fake girlfriend” he agreed with a wink that earned him a tight-lipped smile from Nayeon. 

“Just so we’re clear, you don’t have feelings for me anymore, do you?” Nayeon asked because the last thing she needed was for him to get the wrong idea 

“No, not really” Shownu shrugged “My friends kept insisting all this time that you were just playing hard to get but I realized you weren’t and it wasn’t hard to get over it” Shownu smiled 

“Oh thank god” Nayeon didn’t mean to sound so relieved 

“Walk me to cheer practice later alright?” Nayeon demanded 

“Yes ma’am, you got it” Shownu agreed and the two parted ways 

Perhaps Nayeon’s judgment was a bit foggy when she took the decision but she wasn’t going to let people spread rumors about her, if she was to come out she’d do it on her own terms and when she felt like it, which honestly she was sure wouldn’t happen in high school. 

“Chaeyoung, we always walk you to your music class” Dahyun started “How about we walk Tzuyu to cheer practice for a change?” the pale girl suggested just as Tzuyu closed her locker door 

“That’s fine by me I guess” Chaeyoung answered shrugging, wondering why Dahyun suddenly wanted to walk Tzuyu, she decided not to question it and the three friends set sail headed towards the soccer field. 

“I went grocery shopping with my mom the other day” Dahyun began relating “and as we were walking back home the weirdest thing happened, we didn’t take my mom’s car because she said we should ‘stretch those legs’ anyway, we were making our way back home one foot after the other and then out of nowh-” 

The three friends stopped in their tracks at the sight that greeted them as soon as they reached the soccer field. Shownu planted a kiss on Nayeon’s forehead, the girl giggled and they both waved goodbye, and kept waving, and waving. 

“What the-” Dahyun began 

“Fuck?!” Tzuyu finished, something was burning inside of her, too much spicy food, she thought 

“Chaeyoung are you alright?” Dahyun asked concerned, that was her friend’s crush after all

“Yeah, yes, I’m fine” Chaeyoung answered truthfully, she knew now where her feelings stood so this really had no effect on her, whatsoever. 

“I guess that means my plan is dead, I can’t believe I didn’t think of this possibility before” Dahyun shook her head, seemingly disappointed with herself “At least Jeongtzu got together so that’s cool” Dahyun said and eyed both of her friends to look at their reactions. 

“I can’t believe this!” Three heads turned towards the person who had just spoken, no, shouted beside them. Of course it was Kaitelyn’s annoying ass, Tzuyu thought “Nayeon is supposed to be with Jeongyeon!” Kaitelyn looked like she was expecting them to say something 

“Why do you keep talking to us? We don’t even like you” Tzuyu said, she was honestly so fed up with the girl and she hoped she’d take a hint and just leave them alone. 

“This will probably help Nayeon realize she’s madly in love with Jeongy-” Kaitelyn had completely ignored Tzuyu’s statement so the group of friends did the same and parted ways, leaving Kaitelyn talking to herself. 

The burning feeling inside Tzuyu’s stomach did not subside during cheer practice, on the contrary, it only grew bigger the more Nayeon flirted with Shownu across the field. 

She thought about it and came to the conclusion that perhaps this wasn’t caused by spicy food, and then she came to a second conclusion that she was probably just mad Nayeon went off on her for dating Jeongyeon and then turned around and started dating too, yeah, she was sure that’s where her anger came from. She was going to give Nayeon a piece of her mind. 

Tzuyu followed Nayeon into the dressing room after cheer practice was over, Nayeon always waited until everyone else left to enter the dressing room herself, Tzuyu started walking before Nayeon could even reach her locker. 

“You know” Tzuyu began and Nayeon turned around crossing her arms after realizing it was Tzuyu who just talked to her “I find it funny how jUST last week you gave me this whole speech about dating when regionals were so close and now, oh, you’re dating too, it’s quite interesting” Tzuyu finished giving Nayeon her best please notice this is a fake smile, smile 

“Fuck off” was all Nayeon answered before turning her back on Tzuyu again, resuming her walk to her locker, this was the last thing she needed after her shitty ass day. 

“No, Nayeon” Tzuyu said and quickly moved around so she was facing Nayeon, blocking her way to get to her locker “you’re so hypocritical, so I can’t date but you can? Bullshit!” Tzuyu’s emotions were getting the best of her, and she didn’t like it 

“Tzuyu, stop” Nayeon warned, she didn’t want to fight right now 

“No, Nayeon, you’re going to listen to me!” Tzuyu raised her voice “I’m tired of you bossing me around and then ignoring me” Tzuyu wasn’t able to hold back, all of her emotions had piled up for several weeks and they were all pouring out “I’m tired of your attitude towards me when I never did ANYTHING to deserve it” To Tzuyu, Nayeon’s actions were justifiable in the beginning but now it was just ridiculous to the point it made Tzuyu mad enough that she was shouting, something she hated doing. 

“If you’re so tired stop talking to me then” Nayeon answered nonchalantly taking a seat on a wooden bench and beginning to untie her shoelaces. Her indifference just further increased Tzuyu’s anger 

“Fuck you!” Tzuyu spitted out before walking away, Nayeon clearly wasn’t going to listen to her so why bother trying 

A single silent tear escaped Nayeon’s eyes, why did she keep letting Chou Tzuyu make her cry? 

“They don’t call me Dahyun the Ice Breaker for nothing” Dahyun said standing outside the library doors 

“No one calls you that” Tzuyu stated beside her 

“Not a single person” Chaeyoung emphasized just in case it wasn’t already clear 

“Wow, thanks for the support guys!” Dahyun said sarcastically 

“No problem” Chaeyoung answered 

“Anytime” Tzuyu complemented 

“Go away now, I got this” Dahyun told her friends as she confidently opened the doors to the library 

“Hey Mina” Dahyun greeted taking a seat beside her 

“I got this study guide from Yubin, for next period’s exam, I thought you should try to answer it so I can see what you’re lacking in” Mina suggested and Dahyun only nodded in agreement

“or… D, all of the above” Mina read Dahyun the options 

“All of the above? That’s a weird way to name a country” Dahyun joked, Mina stared at her blankly 

“It’s a joke…” Dahyun clarified but still Mina didn’t even flinch “okay” Dahyun said accepting defeat. She didn’t try again for the remaining of their tutoring session 

Breaking the ice by being funny, crossed off the list, maybe Dahyun wasn’t funny, nah, she though, that obviously isn’t the case, I’m hilarious. Truth be told her joke was a little bit force because Dahyun couldn’t seem to relax when she was around Mina, which she found odd, she should feel at ease with the other girl, she talked to her about the tutor thing… so how come she seemed so nervous around Mina, this was unlike herself. 

Thursday brought brand new opportunities for Dahyun, the future is bright! she reminded herself as she smoothed down her sweater, right in front of the library doors. 

She confidently strutted her way towards the back of the library with a bright smile plastered on her face, she had a good feeling about today’s session, it was her time to shine.

“‘Sup Mina” Dahyun greeted once she was sitting besides the older 

Mina was going on about whatever, Dahyun really wasn’t paying attention and now that she was aware that she wasn’t paying attention she thought she most definitely should be paying attention 

“Um, could you repeat that? I got lost?” Dahyun interrupted Mina rather abruptly 

“Sure, where exactly did you get lost?” Mina asked locking eyes with the other girl, Dahyun gulped, she was gonna seize the moment, carpe diem and shit 

“In your eyes” Dahyun held Mina’s gaze and Mina was suddenly feeling VERY nervous. Dahyun patted herself in the back mentally, that came out smoothly 

“Excuse me I have to go… pee” Mina said before rushing away from Dahyun, Jihyo, she needed Jihyo. Dahyun was left behind confused, she thought she had nailed that. 

Jihyo was sitting with some friends, talking and laughing when she spotted Mina coming towards her, she decided to meet her halfway 

“Aren’t you supposed to be tutoring?” Jihyo questioned once they closed the distance between them, she couldn’t help but notice the faint blush on Mina’s cheeks but decided against commenting on it.. 

“Yes” Mina answered “but I think Dahyun just tried to flirt with me?” Mina let out confused 

“Really? What did she say? Oh this is gonna be good” Jihyo finished, ready to hear what Dahyun had said. Mina explained what had just went down in the library minutes ago. 

“So I’m eighty-ish percent sure she was flirting but I’m not sure” Mina concluded and Jihyo bursted out laughing, she was laughing so hard her tears started blurring her vision. 

“Jihyo! Stop! I’m being serious!” Mina slightly raised her voice and crossed her arms over her chest. Jihyo tried to compose herself, miserably failing. 

“The fact that you” Jihyo stopped on order to swallow down her laughter “are being serious, just makes it even fUNNIER” Jihyo couldn’t hold it in any longer 

“Phew” Jihyo said, wiping the last teat in her eye once her laughter died down “Anyway, how did it make you feel?” 

“What?” Mina asked 

“Dahyun… uh, flirting with you, how did that make you feel?” Jihyo really was trying to keep her laughter IN but picturing Dahyun trying to flirt… it wasn’t easy 

“Well I’m… not sure” Mina hadn’t even had time to actually process her feelings, she was still barely just understanding what exactly just went down at the library “I mean, I’m still not sure she was even flir-” 

“She was” Jihyo interrupted “Carry on” 

“Let’s say she was ummm, I don’t even really know her and sure she’s obviously very pretty and charming and it did make my heart beat a little faster but that seem like a pretty natural reaction when someone stares at you so intensely, also it made me a bit mad that she’d interrupt the lesson for something like that” Mina finished coming to absolutely no conclusion 

“Well you seem to have some sort of fondness towards Dahyun and she really is a great person so I say just roll with it, see where it takes you” Jihyo advised giving her friend a smile 

“I suppose there’s no harm in it” Mina pondered 

“Go back to her now, I’m sure she’s wondering what’s taking you so long” Jihyo laughed and Mina took off to resume her tutoring session 

Nayeon had never been this happy that practice was finally over. It was draining to fake flirt with Shownu and on top of that ignore Tzuyu who by the way wasn’t helping with her gorgeous face and beautiful tanned skin. Nayeon shook her head, she really just wanted to get home lie on her bead and like, breathe. 

She was messily stuffing her cheer uniform inside her duffel bag, she didn’t even bother to fold it, right now she frankly didn’t care if it got wrinkles, she just desperately needed to get home and recharge.

“Tell me why I had to find out from a tenth grade that you’re dating Shownu” Jeongyeon said entering the dressing room just as Nayeon was zipping her bag, great she though, so much for wanting to get home. 

“Surprise!” Nayeon blurted out sarcastically waving her hands by her side for added effect wanting this conversation to be over already. 

“That’s not funny, stop that” Jeongyeon said referring to her friend’s sarcasm “What happened?” she asked 

Nayeon just stood there biting her lips, playing with her fingers and looking anywhere but at Jeongyeon which was enough indicator for the other girl that something definitely happened and that it was enough to make Nayeon distressed which greatly worried Jeongyeon. 

“Nothing happened, why don’t you just go make out with Tzuyu or something, I’m fine” Nayeon tried dismissing her but failed to think before she spoke 

“So THAT’s what this is all about, how could I not see it before?” Jeongyeon said after a moment, coming to a realization “You aren’t mad I’m not going after Chaeyoung are you?” Nayeon decided it was on her best interest to not answer anything, she had fucked up enough already with her slip up mere seconds ago. 

“You’re just mad Tzuyu is going out with me and not you!” Jeongyeon accused putting all the pieces together 

“Are you done?” Nayeon’s voice remained emotionless but Jeongyeon always saw right through her 

“You’re a hypocrite Nayeon” Jeongyeon started and Nayeon swore if oNE more person called her that she was going to actively lose it “getting mad at me for not going after Chaeyoung, if that’s even what you’re actually mad about, but you, are not going after Tzuyu either” Jeongyeon finished, still unsure how Shownu fit in all of this. And of course Jeongyeon thought Nayeon tried to talk her out of dating Tzuyu out of selfishness, Jeongyeon’s judgment had been clouded by all this new information, but Nayeon also was trying to look out after her friend. 

“If there’s nothing else you want to spit at my face, I’m gonna leave now” Nayeon informed and waited a bit to see if Jeongyeon would say anything, she didn’t so Nayeon walked out of the dressing room without another word, bothered by the fact that this was her second fight with Jeongyeon in less than a week. 

“And after I said that she left to the bathroom and came back minutes later, she carried on with the lesson as if nothing happened in the first place, I’m confused” Dahyun finished explaining the events of the previous day to her friends as they all headed towards the library. 

“I mean” Chaeyoung began “if you had used that pick up line on me I would’ve ran out of there faster than Usain Bolt” Chaeyoung joked 

“Yeah Dubs, that was a very lame line, no wonder she left” Tzuyu admitted but when neither of the two heard Dahyun complain about their teasing they stopped in their tracks, Dahyun wasn’t beside them anymore. They turned around and found Dahyun looking everywhere with a confused yet amused expression. Tzuyu and Chaeyoung looked at each other 

“Dahyun?” Tzuyu broke the girl out of her trance 

“Tzuyu? Tzuyu! Oh no! Where are your wings?! Tzuyu don’t tell me he got you” Dahyun looked freaked out as her hands frantically searched behind her back 

“Where are MY wings?!!!” Dahyun asked desperately and by this point her friends were concerned “Don’t tell me we lost Tzu, please don’t-” before Dahyun could finish speaking she fainted, luckily Tzuyu was close enough to catch her before she crashed against the floor. 

“Let’s get her to the nurse’s office” Tzuyu told her short friend, carrying Dahyun in her shoulder like a sack of potatoes 

“So what exactly happened before she fainted?” the nurse asked as she tried to get Dahyun to regain consciousness by making her smell a cotton dipped in alcohol 

“She was speaking nonsense, something about wings and losing and then she just fainted” Chaeyoung explained 

“Ugh where am I?” Dahyun said as she sat up on the nurse’s office bed, she groaned and held her head 

“Nurse’s office, you fainted” the nurse explained 

“Ah, cool, well I gotta go now, Mina’s waiting for me” Dahyun made an attempt to get up but was stopped by the nurse 

“I need to run a check up on you, find out what caused your collapse and you need to rest” the nurse informed and Dahyun mumbled out a defeated, fine, laying back down on the bed. 

“I’ll go tell Mina you won’t make it” Chaeyoung offered 

“Thanks bro” Dahyun smiled and Chaeyoung walked out as the nurse began asking her friend some questions 

Chaeyoung knew what Mina looked like and where she was right now so finding her really wasn’t a problem

“Hi, Mina right?” Chaeyoung said as she reached the far end of the library, Mina nodded 

“How can I help you?” She asked weirded out by the fact that a stranger, one, came into the library and two, talked to her

“I’m Chaeyoung, Dahyun’s friend” as Chaeyoung mentioned her friend Mina’s whole demeanor changed “and I know she was supposed to come here and everything but she fainted and the nurse said she should rest so, well she’s not coming” Chaeyoung finished 

“Oh, well tell her I hope she feels better and that I’ll see her on Monday” Mina said, she felt slightly worried 

“You know, you could go down to the nurse’s and tell her that yourself right? And I’m saying this without any intent to be rude” Dahyun clarified, just in case 

“I know, but I don’t think that’s a good idea, thanks for letting me know” Mina said and her eyes drifted back to the book she had been reading before Chaeyoung interrupted her, cutting off their conversation. 

“Well, everything seems to be fine” Chaeyoung walked inside the nurse’s office just as she was explaining to Dahyun what happened “except for you headache. You fainted due to skipping breakfast, please stop doing that” Dahyun smiled guiltily, the nurse then turned to the friends 

“She’s gonna stay here a while longer until the pill I gave her for her headache kicks in, so you girls go ahead and enjoy the rest of your recess, she’ll be fine” she smiled reassuringly. Tzuyu and Chaeyoung thanked her before walking out the door. 

Dahyun woke up, she blinked a few times to adjust her vision, her headache was gone “thank god” she murmured 

“How are you feeling?” Mina asked from where she was seated next to the bed, startling Dahyun for a moment but she decided not to question it, this was a nice gesture from her. 

“Awesome, I feel awesome” Dahyun answered truthfully, sitting down, the room then fell completely silent. Dahyun took a deep breath, third time’s a charm, right? 

“Hey Mina, are you from Paris?” Dahyun couldn’t believe she was about to do this

“Eh?” Mina asked confused, she was sure she had mentioned she was Japanese before 

“Because Eiffel for you” Dahyun finished with a smile, she hesitantly looked over at Mina 

Mina’s face went from a blank expression to a shy smile that eventually turned into laughter 

“That’s funny” Mina said still laughing slightly, making Dahyun smile, who would’ve thought that incredibly lame line would actually work?


	14. And So... There Was Only One Bed

Nayeon woke up and took a deep breath, she smiled, her eyes still closed. She got up from her bed, today was going to be a great day, the sun was shining, the birds were chirping but most importantly, today was the day she’d kick Tzuyu off the cheer squad for good. 

Nayeon’s mood however dropped to the concrete floor when she saw Jeongyeon approaching her on the parking lot, just after she had closed the front door of her car. 

“Nayeon?” Jeongyeon almost whispered as she fiddled with the hem of her sweatshirt

“Are you here to call me a hypocrite again? ‘Cause if that’s the case I don’t wanna hear it” Nayeon said firmly and Jeongyeon took a deep breath.

“I’m just here to say I’m sorry” Jeongyeon began “I have no clue what’s going on and I didn’t have any right to get mad at you and say such distasteful things. I think I was just hurt to think that you didn’t trust me to talk to me about whatever it is that’s happening, I’m sorry” Jeongyeon looked up and locked eyes with the older. Nayeon’s eyes looked a bit watery 

“I forgive you, and I can’t talk about it, if I talk about it it’ll become real, I don’t want that I can’t deal with it but please know there’s no one in this world that I trust more than you” Nayeon said trying her best to keep her tears inside “I love you” Nayeon finished and pulled Jeongyeon in for a hug 

“I love you too, I really am very deeply sorry” Jeongyeon began not letting go of her best friend “You can count on me for anything” they finally let go 

“Thanks” Nayeon answered with a smile “Let’s go now or we’ll be late” Nayeon suddenly felt her mood lifting up again, she couldn’t wait for cheer practice so all of this could be finally over. 

“So I guess the ice has been broken” Dahyun finished as the three friends parked their bikes 

“I’m proud of you bro” Chaeyoung told her 

“Thanks bro” Dahyun and Chaeyoung high-fived before hugging each other 

“If you guys are done, we should get going” Tzuyu said with an amused smile, her friends’ antics never got old 

“How about you and Jeongyeon Tzuyu? Now that your ice is broken how is that going?” Dahyun asked as the three began moving through the hallways. Tzuyu shrugged 

“We haven’t really talked since we hung out” Tzuyu confessed but knew she should’ve just lied when Dahyun suddenly stopped in the middle of the hallway 

“What?!” Dahyun shouted exaggeratedly 

“Chill dude” Chaeyoung told her unsure of whether her friend was being serious or not 

“Have you even trIED talking to her?! Dahyun questioned and Tzuyu shook her head no 

“Oh Tzuyu” Dahyun said shaking her head and then started walking again. Tzuyu tilted her head in confusion

“You guys coming or what?” Dahyun shouted not turning back 

Tzuyu has had a bad feeling on the pit of her stomach the whole day an it only grew bigger as her friends walked her to the soccer field. Apparently Dahyun thought it was “far more interesting than walking Chaeyoung to her saxophone practice”. Tzuyu checked her phone, she was a bit earlier than usual so after changing into her cheer uniform she went to sit down at the bleachers. She put her elbow on top of her thigh and her head on the palm of her hand.

She turned her head to the right just in time to witness Nayeon and Shownu walking hand in hand towards the dressing room. Tzuyu observed them until they disappeared from her sight. She leaned back into the bleachers and took a deep breath, trying to get rid of the burning feeling in her chest. 

“Hello everyone” Nayeon said happily as she stood on top of the first step of the blue bleachers. The rest of the cheer squad turned their attention to her 

“Before we begin practice I have an important announcement” Tzuyu furrowed her eyebrows after Nayeon’s words “Tzuyu” Nayeon continued and looked at the younger pointing at her with an open hand 

Tzuyu’s heart started beating faster, everyone’s eyes were set on her now, Tzuyu gulped, what was this all about? What had she done wrong this time? 

“It’s been a pleasure having you be a part of this team” Nayeon said and Tzuyu knew she was lying “Unfortunately it’s been a little over a month and you have showed no significant improvements so it’s time to let you go” Nayeon explained. Sana and Momo looked at each other. Sana shrugged letting Momo know she had no idea about what Nayeon was doing. 

“What are you waiting for Tzuyu?” Nayeon pushed as she made a motion with her hands indicating her to leave 

Tzuyu thought about it for a moment, Dahyun had called her foolproof plan off, which meant she didn’t have to do this anymore. She quickly made up her mind, she was done with the cheerleading stunt and this was her chance to leave this all behind, but before she could do or say anything someone interrupted the exchange. 

“What’s going on here?” A woman wearing a blue tracksuit, with a red cap and a whistle hanging around her neck stood confidently right beside the cheer squad.

“Coach Jimin, it’s so nice to hav-” Nayeon’s words were cut off 

“Cut it Im, I’m just going to ask once more, what is going on?” Coach Jimin Park repeated herself and Nayeon internally cursed. She just had to stop by today, of all days. 

Nayeon filled Jimin in on the situation quickly and Jimin just stared at her, blinking slowly. 

“You really think we’re in the position to kick ANYONE off the cheer squad when regionals are so close? I’ll answer that for you, WE’RE NOT” Jimin was speaking passive-aggressively and Nayeon flinched “If we have just the right amount of members and ANYTHING happens to ANY of them we can kiss goodbye to regionals, she stays” Jimin sentenced and Nayeon knew there was no arguing, Jimin was right, so Nayeon only nodded in agreement 

This was Tzuyu’s first time meeting coach Jimin, she seemed scary but at the same time like she could be nice as long as you didn’t get on her bad side, Tzuyu would try her best to stay on the coach’s good side. 

Coach Jimin had been present during practice the whole week, so two days and now Tzuyu wondered if she would show up today, she really was hoping she would because Nayeon really toned down her attitude when Jimin was present, not that it mattered since she still was ignoring Tzuyu’s whole existence. 

The coach did arrive, leading today’s practice as she did the two previous days. Tzuyu was really proud of how it was all coming together. Even though she wouldn’t get to actually perform in regionals she was proud of her personal improvement as well. 

There was still something that bothered Tzuyu and it had to do with Nayeon. Tzuyu thought she could at least try to become civil with the other girl, for the sake of the team

“Nayeon” Tzuyu said as a form of greeting as she leaned against the locker right beside Nayeon’s. Nayeon was going through her locker and completely ignored Tzuyu, purposely.

“Nayeon?” Tzuyu repeated thinking maybe Nayeon hadn’t heard her the first time but she still got no response from the older, she hadn't even looked at her. Tzuyu did not have enough patience for this. 

“Are you really not going to answer?” Tzuyu inquired and her question was answered by Nayeon’s silence 

“Whatever” Tzuyu began, pushing herself away from the locker she was leaning into “Just don’t say I didn’t try” she shrugged and turned her back to Nayeon, ready to walk away 

“No one asked you to” Tzuyu heard Nayeon say behind her back 

“WhAt?” Tzuyu turned to Nayeon once again, had she heard that right? 

“I said no one asked you to try” Nayeon repeated, challenging Tzuyu with her eyes 

“Fine” Tzuyu answered and began walking away, only slightly disappointed but definitely not surprised 

“Fine” Nayeon repeated a bit louder 

“Fine!” Tzuyu shouted almost out of the dressing room already 

“Fine!” Nayeon shouted too, slamming her locker door close forcefully, out of frustration. After a second Nayeon realized she left her keys inside. “God damn it Chou Tzuyu” she muttered to herself as she walked towards Mr. Oh’s office to ask for the additional copy of her key. 

“Attention!” Jimin opened up Thursday’s practice this way, the noise coming from the seven members that were present today, Hyunjin had to skip today’s practice because she had an appointment at the dentist, ceasing immediately after the coach’s demand 

“For today’s practice we’re not going to go over the routine for regionals” Jimin continued and Tzuyu heard everyone around her muttering confusedly 

“We’re doing one” Jimin held up a finger “team building exercise” Everyone groaned but the loudest groan came from Nayeon, Tzuyu couldn’t help but smile at Nayeon’s troubled expression “So pair up” Tzuyu was about to ask Jun to be her partner when Jimin pointed at him “You’re working with me” Tzuyu pouted, who was she supposed to work with now? 

Soon enough everyone was paired up, but not Tzuyu, and only then did she notice, neither was Nayeon 

“Nayeon, pair up with Tzuyu, chop chop!” Jimin ordered and Nayeon walked towards her reluctantly 

“This exercise is very simple, and once you show me you got it right, you can go home” everyone muttered excited to go home early “All you have to do is sit back to back” Jimin sat on the floor and signaled for Jun to do the same “Once you’re back to back, lock your arms together like this” she demonstrated locking her arms with the boy “and now all you have to do is stand up, working together and communicating is the key to making this work” Jimin finished and Jun and her managed to get it done before anyone else. 

Tzuyu sighed as her butt collided with the floor, yet again. It was going to be impossible to achieve this if they weren’t even communicating but Tzuyu refused to be the first one to speak 

She watched as everyone around her completed the exercise and left happily and soon they were the only ones left. Tzuyu sighed 

“Could you two hurry up?” coach Jimin said from her seat on the bleachers “there’s a two for the price of one at my favorite frozen yogurt place today and I’d hate to miss it” she explained as she watched the two girls crash into the grass once more. 

“Can you focus for once?” Nayeon requested, frustrated and fed up with the dumb exercise already 

“I’m trying my best!” Tzuyu half shouted 

“Surely doesn’t seem like it” Nayeon commented as Tzuyu fell dragging Nayeon to the ground with her 

“Maybe if you were to put your pride aside and actually talk to me we could get this right” Tzuyu bit back 

“Oh c’mon!” Nayeon complained “don’t talk to me about pride as if you’re any better” Nayeon finished with a roll of her eyes that Tzuyu didn’t see 

“Whatever, let’s just count to three and get this over with” Tzuyu said 

“Fine, one” Nayeon began 

“Two” Tzuyu said 

“Three” the two of them said, successfully lifting themselves off the grass 

“We did it!” Nayeon shouted and Jimin looked up 

“Oh you did? I wasn’t looking, you’ll have to do it again” coach Jimin said with an innocent smile. 

“You’ve got to be kidding me” Nayeon muttered under her breath as she sat on the grass once again. Tzuyu tried to stifle her laughter as she took a seat on the grass as well. 

Ever since Chaeyoung had come to terms with her feelings for Jeongyeon she had asked Minghao to fetch her once her rehearsal was over and he had complied so far. It was the most effective way Chaeyoung could think of to stop Jeongyeon from trying to talk to her. 

However, when Chaeyoung walked out of the music room that day, Minghao was nowhere to be seen. Chaeyoung took her phone out from her pocket in order to send Minghao a text, only to find the older boy had already sent her one 

‘Son, I’m really sorry but I won’t be able to meet you after our activities, today, I have to stay longer and get this painting done ;(‘ Chaeyoung sighed as she sent her friend a reply telling him not to worry and to work hard on his painting 

Seeing as Minghao wasn’t coming, Chaeyoung started making her way to the parking lot all on her own. She had been feeling down the whole week and she really just missed Jeongyeon. 

During the week she had even thought about quitting the jazz band but she couldn’t do that when they’d been all working so hard for their upcoming performance at the Christmas festival. Maybe after that was done she’d quit. Her thoughts were interrupted when someone called her name 

“Chae” the same voice repeated and Chaeyoung snapped out of it, finally turning around, coming face to face with Jeongyeon, Awesome, she thought 

“Hey” Jeongyeon began shyly and Chaeyoung answered with a nod of her head 

“It’s been a while since we talked” Jeongyeon pointed out 

“Mmhmm, I know” Chaeyoung answered nodding 

“I miss talking to you” Jeongyeon admitted rubbing her arm up and down 

“Uhm, thanks, I really have to go sorry” Chaeyoung said apologetically.

“Do you need a ride?” Jeongyeon asked as her last resource to spend more time with the younger 

“I’m good, thanks” Chaeyoung said and walked away without looking at Jeongyeon again 

Finally that line Chaeyoung read in Jeongyeon’s notebook a while back, made sense to her. She saw the older everyday and yet, she missed her like crazy. 

“It’s your last day of detention Dahyun, how are you feeling?” Tzuyu asked pretending to be holding a mic and interviewing Dahyun 

“Friday has never felt so good” Dahyun kept her answer short and simple

“It feels like forever ago since we stole that cheesecake and now look at you, your penalty is finally over, that growth” Chaeyoung finished making an okay sign with her hand 

“Though I have no idea what I’m gonna do now that the punishment’s over, I mean washing dishes feels like a part of who I am now” Dahyun pondered out loud 

“You can invest your time in something productive” Tzuyu suggested 

“Like world domination” Dahyun said excitedly 

“I think Tzuyu meant more along the lines of homework and school but yeah bro, do you” Chaeyoung encouraged and Dahyun disappeared behind the library doors without another word 

“This is our last practice before regionals on Monday” Jimin began pacing back and forth in front of the team, her hands resting behind her back “We’re going over the routine as many times as necessary and I need everyone to be on top of their game!” Jimin finished and the team wasted no time getting into position, Tzuyu stayed by the sidelines going over the routine by her own since she wouldn’t perform on Monday. 

“Let’s go one last time” Jimin shouted, everyone was exhausted from all the practicing so they were all relieved by Jimin’s words 

They were nearing the final steps of the routine, Jun and Hyunjin threw Eunha up in the air. Eunha perfectly executed a toe touch. Jun and Hyunjin were supposed to catch her. Everything happened quickly, too quickly. 

“My arm!” Eunha yelled out in pain “I think my arm is broken!” she shouted and Sana rushed to her side trying to comfort her 

“I’ll take her to the nurse’s” Sana said before the two quickly left the field 

“Fuck!” Nayeon shouted out in frustration and grabbed her head with both hands 

“Tzuyu, you’ll have to take over Hyunjin’s position, Hyunjin you’ll cover for Eunha” Jimin said and both Tzuyu and Hyunjin nodded in agreement to the new changes “I'll see you all here tomorrow, 8 am, don’t be late” Jimin informed and no one complained, they knew they needed that extra practice with the new changes. 

“Momo, can you let Sana know we’ll meet up tomorrow?” Jimin asked Momo since Sana wasn’t there right now 

“Sure thing coach” Momo answered with a smile 

“For now everyone should go get some rest, I’ll check up on Eunha” Jimin informed and the team nodded 

The extra practice on Saturday went on without any further problems and Nayeon felt confident about the competition on Monday, if they performed there as they did during today’s practice they were sure to secure a spot on Nationals. 

Tzuyu had never arrived to school so early but this time she had to because Cheerleading Regionals would take place today. The whole squad was supposed to arrive at 6:30 a.m. and then a minibus would drive them to the school where the contest would be held. They’d be there for most of the day and then come back to school at around the time it finished. 

Upon arrival, Tzuyu parked her bike on the usual spot and walked over to where the squad was supposed to meet. When she arrived only Jimin and Jun were there. 

“Hey Tzuyu” the boy greeted with a smile 

“Hello” Tzuyu smiled politely, it was way too early for small talk so Tzuyu was grateful that Jun didn’t say anything else 

Once everyone arrived they boarded the minibus, Tzuyu was the last one to walk in and the only free seat was next to Jun who spent the whole thirty minutes of ride talking. So much for not wanting to make small talk. 

After registration, Jimin gave them an hour to eat some breakfast before they had to meet again to go over the details one more time before the competition started. Eunha had come with them as support but she would not participate, she did break her arm after all. 

Jun had practically dragged Tzuyu with him to the cafeteria, it’s not like she wasn’t planning on going but she had made up her mind that she’d eat breakfast alone. But now Jun was there, Tzuyu still wasn’t sure if she enjoyed his company or not. 

“Are you nervous?” Jun asked once they sat down ready to eat 

“Yeah, a little, you?” Tzuyu admitted 

“Me too, I thought to myself this morning, Jun you-” Jun kept talking but Tzuyu muted out his words. Nayeon had taken a seat on the table behind Jun. It was impossible for Tzuyu not to look at Nayeon when she was practically in front of her being annoyingly pretty. 

“Tzuyu? Are you even listening?” Jun asked once he noticed the girl’s lack of attention, he turned around to try and figure out the source of Tzuyu’s distraction, he spotted Nayeon easily 

“Oh…” he said and continued eating, no point in trying to have a conversation now.

Sooner than Tzuyu would’ve liked they were the next squad that’d perform, Tzuyu felt her palms sweating slightly. Coach Jimin approached them and they all formed a circle, everyone’s hands met in the middle. Nayeon’s hand on top of Tzuyu’s. Tzuyu locked eyes with Nayeon and the older smiled, making Tzuyu inevitably smile as well. 

“Cheetahs on three” Jimin began “one, two three” 

“Cheetahs!” the whole team shouted as they threw their hands up in the air. Tzuyu was pumped, never underestimate the power of a small team cheer. 

And off they went, weeks of practice reflected on three minutes of routine. Everyone was panting by the final pose. The auditorium filled with applause, whistling and shouting. Tzuyu smiled as the team gave a bow. 

Tzuyu was feeling the hype as they walked off the stage and after the way Nayeon smiled at her she was feeling rather bold. So she decided it was a good idea to try and talk to Nayeon. Sana was receiving Eunha’s praises and affection, Momo was talking to Jun so Nayeon was all alone ready to watch the next team perform sitting on one of the red chairs in the auditorium. Tzuyu took a seat next to her. 

“You were great up there” Tzuyu complimented sincerely. Nayeon looked at her briefly and then ahead again 

“I don’t care what you think” Nayeon left no room for conversation. Tzuyu sighed, if that’s how she wanted them to be what was Tzuyu to do. She didn’t even know why she was still trying. She got up and walked away 

All the participating squads were standing on the stage waiting to be called as the presenter named the squads that made it to Nationals one by one. Tzuyu suddenly felt her hand being enveloped by a bigger one, their fingers intertwining. Tzuyu looked carefully to her side, Nayeon, she let a small smile find its way to her lips. Nayeon sure was annoying and confusing. 

“And lastly, The Cheetahs from JYPE High School” the squad broke into shouting and celebration as they all congratulated each other. They went back to school with the biggest smiles plastered on their faces. 

Tzuyu checked the time as soon as she got off the bus, it was almost time for classes to end so she called Dahyun and they agreed to head to Dahyun’s house, it had been a while since they hung out there, besides Jimin said there’d be no practice that day so they had time to spare. 

“No Tzuyu! You’re doing it wrong” Dahyun shouted, Tzuyu stopped her movements “In order to cook this meal perfectly you need to understand the metaphysics of cooking” Dahyun explained. Tzuyu directed the big knife she was using to cut cheese towards Dahyun 

“Did your dinosaur shaped chicken nugget understand the metaphysics of cooking Dahyun? DID IT!?” Tzuyu playfully pushed the knife closer to Dahyun’s face 

“Woah!” Dahyun exclaimed “Don’t you dare bring Charcoalsaurus into this” she warned and Tzuyu’s lips formed into a smile, of course that’s be the thing Dahyun decided to focus on and not the big knife being pushed towards her face. 

“Can we please just get this sandwiches done? I’m starving” Chaeyoung pleaded, she had arrived about fifteen minutes ago and had walked in on Dahyun and Tzuyu answering Buzzfeed quizzes. 

Now that the trio finally had their sandwiches they were eating them up in Dahyun’s room. Dahyun, as usual, was sitting on her bean bag while Tzuyu took  the desk’s chair and Chaeyoung sat on the bed. 

Dahyun waved her bitten sandwich at Tzuyu “How’s the Jeongyeon situation going?” she asked the younger, Tzuyu gulped down the bite of sandwich she was chewing and cleaned the corners of her mouth with a napkin before answering 

“Still the same, honestly Dahyun it’s clear she’s not interested” Tzuyu admitted, maybe that way Dahyun would finally drop it and stop bugging Tzuyu about it 

“No way, why would she agree to go out with you if she didn’t?” Dahyun reasoned before biting down at her half-eaten sandwich 

“She didn’t even know who I was when she agreed to the date” Tzuyu reminded Dahyun trying to make her see the truth, that way they could all forget all of this even happened 

“Fair point, fair point, but also consider this” Dahyun began with her mouth full, she gulped it down “there’s a chance she liked you after you two hung out y’know? And maybe she’s just like, shy to talk to you! Dahyun shrugged

“Or perhaps it’s time to accept she doesn’t and move on” Tzuyu shrugged as well 

“Aren’t you guys thirsty?” Chaeyoung asked standing up, talking about Jeongyeon like this made her uncomfortable “I’m going to get us something to drink” she said before walking out of the room

The next day all Tzuyu could think of was cheer practice. They’d start preparing the routine for Nationals today and they had less than two weeks to learn everything and now that Tzuyu was actually going to be part of the process since the beginning she felt a huge responsibility on her shoulders. 

Tzuyu and Chaeyoung walked out of their last class before recess and Dahyun was already waiting for them outside 

“I convinced Mina to move our tutoring sessions to after school” Dahyun greeted her friends with the news 

“Well that’s great, now that your sessions will be significantly longer you surely will have time to chat for a bit” Chaeyoung pointed out 

“Oh damn it! How did I not think of that?” Dahyun asked no one in particular, hitting her forehead with her open palm. 

“Think about what?” Tzuyu asked with furrowed brows and a smile 

“Longer study sessions” Dahyun groaned loudly 

“On the other hand” Chaeyoung began “Mina” she finished nodding her head, knowing she just made the best possible point. 

“That’s an excellent point, she makes everything more bearable” Dahyun said happy to look at the bright side 

“Or you’re just that whipped” Tzuyu teased and Chaeyoung high-fived her. 

“Shut up as-” Dahyun got cut off. Jeongyeon stood in front of the three friends making them halt to a stop 

“Tzuyu could we have a word?” Jeongyeon requested taking everyone off guard 

“Uh yeah, sure” Tzuyu answered and the two moved away from Dahyun and Chaeyoung 

Jeongyeon seemed to be trying to unscramble her thoughts in order to deliver the message “Okay so” she took a breath, Tzuyu’s eyes looking expectantly “I had a nice time the other day and you seem like a really good person but I’m just not interested in you romantically, I’m sorry” Jeongyeon finished and Tzuyu threw her a smile 

“It’s fine Jeongyeon, no hard feelings” Tzuyu answered, she felt like a weight had been lifted off her shoulders 

“Cool, see you around” Jeongyeon said, Tzuyu nodded and they parted ways. 

Nayeon walked out of the bathroom just in time to catch the end of that interaction. Jeongyeon noticed her friend and walked up to her. 

“What was that all about?” Nayeon asked faking disinterest but Jeongyeon knew now of Nayeon’s fondness towards Tzuyu, even if Nayeon hadn’t actually said it, she didn’t need to, Jeongyeon knew her too well. 

“Nothing much, just told Tzuyu I don’t really like her like that” Jeongyeon shrugged and Nayeon’s eyes immediately shifted to Tzuyu, to try to make sure the younger looked okay

“Why would you do that?” Nayeon asked slightly concerned that Jeongyeon might’ve hurt the girl’s feeling, though Tzuyu seemed to be alright

“Well because it is true, besides this way we can both pursue our actual happiness” Jeongyeon said and smiled at Nayeon who smiled back grateful even if she wasn’t sure she’d ever face her feelings. 

Sooner than Tzuyu would’ve liked it was already time for Nationals. They’d take place in another city so the squad was scheduled to leave on Friday after school, once they arrived there they’d have some time to check out the venue and practice there. Then on Saturday the actual competition would take place at around six p.m. and finally they’d travel back Sunday morning. 

Before leaving Tzuyu checked twice that she had packed everything she’d need for the trip, she was both nervous and excited. She was confident they’d nail Nationals as they did Regionals. She checked the clock, crap she was running late. 

“Tzuyu my sweet baby, how are you holding up?” Dahyun asked Tzuyu as the taller tried to stuff her bag of clothes on her locker 

It’d been close to two weeks since Jeongyeon talked to Tzuyu and Dahyun asked her the same question everyday and had been getting the same response 

“As I’ve answered the past TWO weeks, I am completely fine, thank you very much” Tzuyu said as she finally managed to fit the bag into the locker, closing it quickly so it wouldn’t fall.

“It doesn’t hurt to ask again” Dahyun shrugged, she was just trying to look after her friend even if she had a strong suspicion this situation really did not affect her at all 

“Where’s Chaeyoung?” Tzuyu wondered, since she had been running late this morning she wasn’t able to ride to school with her friends.

“Her mom told me she caught a fever” Dahyun answered “I called her in the morning and since she wasn’t picking up I called her house” Tzuyu nodded at the explanation and soon the two friends parted ways. 

Nayeon was sitting with her friends at their usual table at the cafeteria during lunch. She brought some homemade french fries and was taking her time savouring each one. Momo and Sana sitting opposite to her and Jeongyeon in line to get food. 

“Hey babe” Shownu took a seat besides Nayeon wrapping his arm around Nayeon’s shoulder and planting a kiss on the girl’s cheek “Oh are those french fries?” he asked rhetorically, taking three fries at once and shoving them into his mouth. Nayeon tried to remain unaffected by his actions but she hated when people took her food without permission. 

“Hi” Nayeon half-smiled 

The atmosphere amongst the four turned awkward the moment Shownu showed up and now that they had immersed themselves in silence it felt even more awkward than before. 

“Well I just wanted to check up on my girlfriend, see ya” Shownu said before standing up and walking away 

“Would it kill you two to try and get to know him?” Nayeon asked her friends “He really is a sweet guy” Nayeon had to try her best to make this look as real as possible, besides, he actually was a good guy. Momo and Sana looked at each other and shrugged 

“I suppose it wouldn’t” Sana answered and Momo was quick to change the subject. 

The final bell rang and school was finally over. Being without Chaeyoung in class made Tzuyu feel like every class lasted three months. Tzuyu quickly walked out of the classroom and walked to retrieve her bag from her locker. She wanted to get to the minibus quickly so she wouldn’t have to sit next to Jun the whole trip. 

Don’t get her wrong, she thought Jun was an okay guy and everything but he was just too much for Tzuyu. She just wanted to put on her earphones and enjoy the ride, not listen to him talk for like three hours non-stop. She was the first to arrive other than coach Jimin who smiled comfortingly at her 

“How are you feeling Chou?” she asked the younger girl 

“Nervous but excited” Tzuyu shared and Jimin smiled while nodding, she knew exactly how the girl felt. 

“Hey coach, can I sit with you on the bus?” Tzuyu asked hoping Jimin would agree

“Sure kiddo” Jimin noticed while watching the squad practice these past weeks, that Tzuyu didn’t really get along with anyone so she wouldn’t say she was surprised at her request. 

Tzuyu watched her teammates arrive one by one, the last one to meet them was Nayeon, who walked hand in hand with Shownu, Tzuyu wanted to look away, she hated the feeling she got whenever she saw those two together, but Tzuyu’s eyes were drawn to the couple like a magnet 

“I’m gonna miss you” Shownu told Nayeon, he was in front of her, their entwined hands dangling by their sides 

“I’m gonna miss you” Nayeon bopped Shownu’s nose as she said the word you “more” 

‘Ugh please, can they get any more disgusting?’ Tzuyu thought and couldn’t stop herself from rolling her eyes 

“What’s the matter Tzu?” Sana, who had been standing besides Tzuyu for who knows how long, asked. She had a hunch of what the reason behind Tzuyu’s expression was 

“Huh?” Tzuyu’s eyes finally detached themselves from the gross couple and landed on Sana’s side profile 

“Nothing sweetie, nevermind” Sana told Tzuyu before flashing one of her reassuring smiles. Everyone started walking into the minibus that had just arrived. Tzuyu was quick to hop on and take a seat next to Jimin. 

“Would you rather take the window seat?” Jimin offered and Tzuyu was about to accept that offer when she spotted Shownu kissing Nayeon’s cheek goodbye just outside that very window. 

“I’m good, thanks” she replied 

The ride went without any trouble, only one pit stop to go to the bathroom and buy snacks. They made it to the venue at around six. Everyone was looking around excitedly, this was really a much bigger school than theirs, it was a college after all. 

The whole team walked into the basketball stave court where the competition would take place tomorrow. There was another squad of cheerleaders practicing so coach Jimin told them to take a seat on the bleachers and wait for their turn. 

While watching the other squad practice, Tzuyu locked eyes with a pretty girl, Tzuyu swore the girl winked at her but maybe she was just imagining things.

The other team was finally done and now it was their turn to practice. As Tzuyu was coming down from the bleachers, the pretty girl from before approached her

“Is your name as pretty as your face?” the girl asked with a flirty smile and Tzuyu wasn’t sure how to react 

“Um, I suppose my name matches my face in an average way?” Tzuyu answered and forced herself to smile despite her confusion. 

“I’m Elkie” the pretty girl extended her hand towards Tzuyu “but feel free to call me any day” 

“Tzuyu” she answered and took the girl’s hand feeling a piece of paper being pressed into her palm. Elkie winked as Tzuyu looked down at the number written on the small piece of paper 

“I’ll see you arou-” Elkie’s farewell was cut short 

“Tzuyu if you’re fucking done flirting we have to get this practice going!” Nayeon half-shouted a few steps away from the girls

“Oops, I better leave, your girlfriend seems angry” Elkie said 

“She’s not my g-” Tzuyu didn’t get the chance to explain as Elkie was quick to leave, she sighed shoving the piece of paper into the pocket of her sweatpants. 

After they were done with rehearsal Jimin gave them an hour to freshen up, eat something, walk around or just do whatever they wanted before the bus came pick them up to take them to their hotel. 

Tzuyu wandered around a bit, she had managed to sneak out the court before being spotted by Jun. After a while she decided to buy herself a hamburger, she ate quietly, at her own pace, music blasting from her earphones but her thoughts focused on something else, turning the music into nothing more than background noise. 

Once she finished eating, she cleaned her mouth and threw her leftover garbage at a nearby trash can. She took off her earphones wrapping the cord around her phone and putting it into her pocket. She walked into the bathroom and found Nayeon there, washing her hands

“One would think you’d be too busy flirting to even use the bathroom” Nayeon couldn't stop herself from saying yet another incredibly stupid thing 

“That doesn’t even make sense” Tzuyu said as she watched Nayeon wash her hands 

“Whatever” Nayeon muttered and tried to walk past Tzuyu but she blocked her way 

“Wait, are you jealous?” Tzuyu mocked with an amused smile 

“Why would I be?” Nayeon asked looking at Tzuyu with a raised eyebrow and crossing her arms, as if that simple action would stop Tzuyu from seeing that yes, she was jealous. 

“Maybe you’re jealous someone was hitting on me because no one hits on you” Tzuyu pouted teasingly 

“I don’t care if no one hits on me, I have a boyfriend” Nayeon rolled her eyes and Tzuyu’s stomach twisted after hearing the b word. 

“Then maybe you’re jealous because you like me” Tzuyu took one step closer towards Nayeon, the older didn’t even flinch but on the inside she was panicking 

“Don’t flatter yourself, that’s nonsense” Nayeon quickly defended 

“Oh is it?” Tzuyu placed her hands on Nayeon’s waist “Or maybe I hit too close to home…” Tzuyu questioned as her face inched closed to Nayeon’s 

“Tzuyu stop before you do something you regret” Nayeon warned but Tzuyu couldn’t care less 

“What makes you think I’d regret doing anything with you?” Nayeon felt Tzuyu’s grip on her waist tighten and the younger’s breathing on her upper lip, Nayeon’s eyes widened slightly, almost imperceptibly. 

Tzuyu obviously did not mean that, right? She was just doing this to get a reaction and tease Nayeon, nothing more, so why did her heart sink when Nayeon pushed her away? 

Tzuyu’s laugh echoes in Nayeon’s ears as she walked away from her, ready to make her way out of the bathroom and as far away as possible from Tzuyu. She pushed the door open forcefully

“Ouch!” someone complained on the other side as the door collided against them 

“Sana?!” Nayeon recognized that voice and found her friend outside the bathroom holding her forehead with both hands, a pained expression on her face. 

“Oh my god are you okay?” Nayeon asked concerned taking Sana’s hands off her face only to reveal her read forehead “I’m so sorry” Nayeon apologized even though no one was really at fault… or maybe Sana was, if she hadn’t been eavesdropping behind the door maybe they wouldn’t have found themselves in this situation. 

The team was hanging around the hotel lobby waiting for Jimin to confirm their reservation so she could assign them their rooms. Some of them were talking and others were distracted with their phone. 

“Gather up everyone!” Jimin said and all of them circled around her, everyone except Nayeon looked expectantly at her, Nayeon was still using her phone. 

“Sana, Momo” the two girls smiled “Would you mind sharing a room with Jun?” Jimin asked since the school only made a three room reservation, not including her room since she paid for that herself, she had to fit the boy somewhere 

“Not at all” Sana answered for both of them 

“Perfect” Jimin scrambled with the card keys until she found the one “here you go” she handed it to Momo and the three walked away talking excitedly amongst themselves

“Gyuri and Hyunjin, you’re together” she handed Gyuri the card

Nayeon was still too entertained with her phone to have really been paying attention to what was going on around her, that is until she heard her name being called 

“Nayeon and Tzuyu, here’s your key” Jimin extended the card for either of them to take it, but she looked up when no one did. 

“No way” Nayeon began complaining to no one’s surprise “I’m not sharing with her” Nayeon argued and Jimin wasn’t having any of it 

“Yeah I don’t love the idea” Tzuyu contributed to Nayeon’s argument “Can I just switch with Gyuri or something?” Tzuyu offered an alternative

“No changes you two, now go get some rest, we’ve got a big day tomorrow” Jimin reminded and Nayeon took the card key from her hand, defeated 

Jimin paired the two girls on purpose, it wouldn’t take a genius to figure out there was some sort of issue between them and although it didn’t affect their performance in matters of cheerleading, Jimin felt it’d be healthy for them to work it out. 

Nayeon and Tzuyu went up the elevator in complete silence, all the gay to the fourth floor. They were both carrying their school backpack and an extra bag. Once the elevator doors opened Nayeon walked ahead of Tzuyu looking for their room, 402, 404...410, there it was, room 412. 

Nayeon used the card key to open the door both girls made their way inside and dropped their bags by the door, Nayeon turned around to check out their room. 

“You’ve got to be fuCKING KIDDING ME!” Nayeon shouted as soon as she looked up 

“What?” Tzuyu was too distracted setting down her bags that she hadn’t taken the time to look around, she straightened her posture and looked ahead, she found the reason for Nayeon’s sudden outburst. There was only one king size bed in the room 

“Jimin is gonna hear me alright” Nayeon walked past Tzuyu and out of the room with determined steps down the hall.

“Wait” Tzuyu shouted “I wanna complain too” she said before shutting the door close and walking after Nayeon, Jimin’s room was just a few doors down the hall. She had told them before in case they needed anything. Once they were standing in front of Jimin’s door Nayeon desperately knocked on the door, Jimin opened the door with a face mask on and a white robe. 

“What now?” she almost shouted, annoyed at the interruption 

“There’s only one bed in our room” Nayeon said thinking that’d be enough for Jimin to realize what an outrageous situation they had found themselves in 

“Okay and?” Jimin asked fueling the girl’s annoyance 

“It must be some kind of mistake” Nayeon pressed hoping the coach would take matters into her own hands and fix this 

“Besides, if we didn’t want to share a room we surely don’t want to share a bed” Tzuyu said and Nayeon nodded agreeing with the younger’s words 

“Look, if it bothers you so much to share a bed you can take my emergency sleeping bag and I’ll look into it tomorrow, sounds good?” Nayeon and Tzuyu both nodded, not completely satisfied with the coach’s solution but it was a better alternative than sharing a bed so Tzuyu reluctantly took the red sleeping bag Jimin was handing her and the two walked away. 

Nayeon and Tzuyu made their way back to room 412. Nayeon opened the door hoping somehow an extra bed had appeared there while they were gone but no, everything looked exactly the same when she walked into the room for a second time. 

“I’m gonna use the bathroom” Tzuyu informed Nayeon not waiting for a response and she took her bag walking into the bathroom 

Nayeon used the time Tzuyu took in the bathroom to change into her pajamas. She sat on the bed staring at the sleeping bag Tzuyu had set next to the door, she set it up and took one of the two pillows on the bed and set it on the floor, on top of the sleeping bag.

Finally Tzuyu came out of the bathroom and Nayeon took her turn now. Tzuyu put her bag inside the closet and when she turned around she noticed Nayeon had set up the sleeping bag, she was quick to get settled inside- 

“I was gonna sleep there” Nayeon informed Tzuyu once she came out from the bathroom and found the girl laying on the floor 

“Ah” Tzuyu answered from her place on the floor “I just thought you should take the bed tonight and we can switch tomorrow” Tzuyu explained, she wasn’t going to say it but she knew how important this competition was to Nayeon so she didn’t want to make her sleep on the floor when she needed to be in the best shape for tomorrow. 

“Okay” Nayeon answered and without another word Nayeon turned the light off and got into bed ready to sleep but it took her quite longer than expected to fall asleep. This had been going on for some time now, being unable to sleep properly or fall asleep quickly, no matter how tired she was. She decided not to worry too much about it, for now at least 

Sana, Jun and Momo were in their room already changed into their pajamas. Their room consisted of one king size bed and one individual bed next to it, separated by a nightstand. Sana and Momo were sitting on the right edge of the bed facing Jun who was sitting opposite to them

“Jun, you’re a trustworthy guy” Sana began and Jun smiled as he shifted his position in bed yet again “And Momo” she placed a hand on her friend’s shoulder “you’re my best friend” Sana concluded 

“Not that I’m not a sucker for emotionally driven speeches but, what is this all about?” Jun asked already impatient for Sana to get to the point. 

“Okay so, Momo, remember that one time when you said Nayeon was straighter than your hair?” Sana asked Momo 

“Uh yeah I remember” Momo asked unsure of where Sana was going with this, Jun scoffed 

“I don’t think she is” Sana revealed 

“Of course she’s not! One look at her and I could tell she was gay” Jun admitted 

“How are we gonna tell her?” Momo asked seriously concerned 

“What?” Sana asked with a smile that was threatening to turn into laughter 

“I mean she has a boyfriend, how are we supposed to break it to her that she’s a lesbian?” Momo seemed genuinely worried and Sana found it adorable 

“We don’t have to break anything to her Momo, it’s usually the other way around” Jun explained with a smile 

“But wait hold on, what made you come to that conclusion?” Momo asked after the small distraction 

Sana briefly explained what went down hours earlier and what she could catch of Nayeon and Tzuyu’s conversation 

“I must give it to Tzuyu, that was really smooth” Sana finished and the other two nodded 

“So what we can gather from this is that; one, Nayeon is not straight, which we been knew so…” Jun began “two, she was jealous of that girl that flirted with Tzuyu which leads me to three, she definitely likes Tzuyu” Jun concluded 

“What about Shownu then?” Sana asked “that still doesn't add up” 

“Have you heard of a beard?” Momo was the one to speak now and Jun looked at her proudly. Sana shook her head no 

“It’s basically like, when a celebrity is gay they get a partner of the opposite sex to sort of stop people from speculating or whatever, that someone is called a beard” Momo explained as best as she could“Huh, that would make sense” Sana said

“Or maybe she’s using him to make Tzuyu jealous?” Jun suggested and Sana seemed to have remembered something 

“Or both” Sana briefly shared how Tzuyu was looking at Nayeon and Shownu as the “couple” said their goodbyes 

“So, number four, Tzuyu likes Nayeon too which, again, we been knew” Jun told them 

“What are we gonna do?” Sana asked seriously 

“Sleep, if I’m being honest I don’t think this really concerns us and as long as Nayeon doesn’t ask for our help we should stay out of it” Momo said already snuggled up between the blankets. Sana and Jun looked at each other and nodded, Momo was right, there was no reason for them to be sticking their nose on their friends’ business and besides they needed to rest for the competition tomorrow. 

“We are ready, we’ve got this” Nationals were about to start and Nayeon was giving the squad a little bit of a pep talk “We’ve worked hard for this, let’s give it our all out there!” they put their hands in the middle and shouted “Cheetahs!” Tzuyu could feel the adrenaline kicking in 

Two squads performed before them and now it was finally their turn, their moment of truth. Nayeon noticed Gyuri’s nervous state so she walked up to her 

“You’ve got this” she put an encouraging hand on the younger’s shoulder, Gyuri smile gratefully, her nerves settling down a bit. 

Their performance had been flawless so far and now it was Nayeon’s moment to shine, as the rest of the squad maintained their position in a pyramid with Gyuri on top, Nayeon was supposed to perform a brief individual routine to wrap it all up. 

Nayeon wasn’t sure what went wrong but the moment she noticed Gyuri was about to fall her instincts kicked in and soon enough Gyuri’s butt collided against Nayeon’s stomach both of them landing on the ground, Nayeon's head bouncing against the wooden floor with a loud thud. All the air inside Nayeon left her body and she was desperately gasping for air. 

“Get off her Gyuri!” A voice desperately demanded but Nayeon couldn’t quite recognize it, she wanted to ask Gyuri if she was okay but given the lack of oxygen inside her body she couldn’t. 

Suddenly Nayeon felt herself being lifted up by a pair of arms carrying her bridal style, she wrapped her arms around this person’s neck, her head pounding, her vision blurry 

“It’s okay” the person carrying her reassured sweetly “you’re gonna be okay just try breathing in slowly” Nayeon’s vision was still a bit blurry so she closed her eyes, at least her breathing was beginning to come back to normal 

Tzuyu took Nayeon as quickly as she could to the made up nurse’s office they had set up inside the basketball court. Tzuyu set Nayeon down on the bunk

“The nurse should not be long, she’s just checking up on Gyuri” Tzuyu told Nayeon as she dragged a chair closer to the bed. Tzuyu felt terrible for the way she had shouted at Gyuri earlier but watching and hearing Nayeon’s head collide that forcefully against the floor really got Tzuyu worried. Nayeon’s vision was finally back and she finally figured out who had carried her there. 

“You can leave now” Nayeon said and hated herself for treating Tzuyu like this

“We both know I’m not going to” Tzuyu stated 

“I know you don’t care but I think what you did out there was quite heroic” Tzuyu complimented after a few seconds of silence 

“If you know I don’t care then why bother saying it?” Nayeon questioned, looking at Tzuyu from where she was laying. 

“My mom says if you have something nice to say you should always say it” Tzuyu shrugged and before either of them could say anything else the nurse appeared and Tzuyu walked out letting her do her job. 

Nayeon walked out of the made up nurse’s office after the nurse had checked up on her. Nayeon’s mood significantly dropped now that she came to the realization that they weren’t going to win and she could kiss goodbye to her dream of getting a scholarship for college. She sighed, deep down she knew she had done the right thing. 

“Im Nayeon” a man interrupted her while walking “My name is Lee Donghyuk” he extended his hand and Nayeon shook it, unsure of what this was about 

“I’m a representative of Palace University, I can say I was impressed by your performance earlier, not only did your abilities catch my eye but also your sacrifice and thus loyalty to your team, we’d love to have you become a part of our cheer squad, think it over and give me a call when you make up your mind” Donghyuk smiled noticing the girl’s shocked expression and handing her a card. 

“Thanks” Nayeon told Donghyuk as he walked away. It took Nayeon a moment to absorb what just happened after Donghyuk left but once she took it all in she couldn’t help but perform a little victory dance. 

Everyone was exhausted when they arrived at the hotel and also definitely disappointed that they didn’t win. Gyuri kept apologizing even though no one was really blaming her and kept reassuring her that it was okay. 

Nayeon and Tzuyu were eager to just sleep and soon they found themselves inside their room. Tzuyu knew they had agreed it was her turn to sleep on the bed but she couldn’t let Nayeon sleep on the floor after her Humpty Dumpty-like fall, a great fall, so she started setting up the sleeping bag for herself 

“I think it’s best if you take the bed” Tzuyu suggested smoothing down the sleeping bag 

“But it’s your turn to sleep there, we agreed to it” Nayeon said 

“You took a hard blow to your head, I don’t think it’s healthy for you to be sleeping on the floor after such thing” Tzuyu fought back 

“And I don’t think it’s fair for your back to sleep on the floor two days in a row” Nayeon replied, right now they were both aggressively caring for each other in their own stubborn way 

“Nayeon…” Tzuyu let out hoping Nayeon would just take the bed 

“I’ll take the bed but, we sleep together, it’s only fair” Nayeon concluded seeing as they wouldn’t reach an agreement any other way 

“Fine, if we must” Tzuyu agreed

Soon after their small lighthearted argument both girls were tucked nicely into the bed, both impossibly close to their respective edge, leaving a huge space between them but somehow as the night went on they both found their way into each other's arms and for the first time in forever, Nayeon got a good night’s sleep. 

When Tzuyu woke up she was alone in the bed but it didn’t take long for her to spot Nayeon, who was going around the whole room looking inside drawers and checking under the bed and inside the closet to make sure she wasn’t forgetting anything. 

Tzuyu decided to just let her be and gather her stuff as well, she folded Jimin’s sleeping bag and she was ready to go. She checked the time on her phone, they were supposed to meet up with the team down at the lobby in five minutes. 

“We should get going” Tzuyu suggested but Nayeon didn’t even turn to look at her, Tzuyu only knew the older had heard her because for a brief moment she had stopped all her movements. 

“Ah, I see” Tzuyu understood, Nayeon was doing it again, the whole pretending Tzuyu doesn’t exist and she tried to stay unbothered as she walked down to the lobby by herself. 

Nayeon watched as the door closed. She didn’t want to do this, she didn’t want to keep pushing Tzuyu away but what choice did she have?


	15. Sober Thoughts, Drunken Truths

“I’m bored” Jun started, turning around in his seat and facing Sana and Momo. They were supposed to be reading some copies the teacher had passed around but Jun wasn’t up for it. Sana looked up from said copies. 

“Honestly me too, I’ve read the same sentence like five times already” Sana admitted defeat and let her set of copies fall down on her desk 

“That’s why I didn’t even try” Momo admitted with a smile and Sana answered with a smile of her own. 

“So I heard rumors on the street that Park Jihyo’s brother is throwing a party” Jun informed, an excited smile forming on his lips. 

“Okay and?” Momo asked unsure of what Jun’s hype was about 

“It’s a college party but I heard she’s been inviting people from school and I really reeeaaally wanna go” Jun explained and Sana let out a small laugh seeing his excitement 

“I mean, it’s just a party” Momo shrugged “How exciting can it be?” 

“Pretty exciting from what I’ve heard, Jeonghan and I are really curious to see why everyone talks about it” Jun explained and it was true, whenever Chanyeol’s party was near it became the hot gossip around school. 

“Well we don’t really know Jihyo so I doubt we’ll be invited” Sana said and Jun sighed. Sana took her phone out of her pocket after she felt it vibrating, she smiled upon reading Eunha’s text. 

“I’m gonna go meet up with Eunha, I’ll be right back” Sana stood up without another word and walked out of the classroom 

“So Momo…” Jun was quick to move into Sana’s seat as soon as she walked out the door “Sana’s all lovey-dovey with Eunha and I’ve been with Jeonghan for almost five years now” Jun looked at Momo and she nodded “What about you?” 

“What about me?” Momo asked pretending not to know what Jun was talking about 

“Is there anyone special in your life? A significant other? A crush? Something?” Jun asked smirking slightly 

“Well…” Momo began and paused pretending to be deep in thought, knowing that would keep the other boy on his toes, he was dun to mess with, Momo kept the act for a few more seconds “no” she finished and Jun let out a disappointed sigh that made Momo laugh since it was just the reaction she anticipated. 

“Boo, you’re no fun” Jun said jokingly and walked back to his seat, just in time as Sana walked through the door a few seconds later, a bright smile on her face. 

“Guess what?” Dahyun told her friends as she set her tray down on the table

“What?” Chaeyoung asked, completely out of instinct since all of her attention was focused on her lunch right now. 

“Jihyo invited us to Chanyeol’s party” Dahyun informed smiling, this was the first time since she had first met Jihyo that she had been invited to one of Chanyeol’s famous parties, not because Jihyo didn’t want her there before, but this was the first time Chanyeol agreed to let Jihyo invite some friends that weren't Mina, at least that's what Jihyo told her earlier. 

"Wait, who?" Tzuyu asked, her gaze shifting from Nayeon to Dahyun sitting besides her. 

"Chanyeol, he's Jihyo's brother, apparently he throws this awesome parties and Jihyo told me that since this is his last year of college he's going all out for this one" Dahyun was beaming with excitement, she had no idea what to expect but that didn't stop her from feeling this way. 

Dahyun's eyes shifted between her friends as she noticed neither of them were really paying her any mind. Dahyun sighed and shook her head, a small smile spreading on her lips when she noticed where Tzuyu's attention was focused. 

"We're going, right?" Dahyun asked hoping to get at least some of her friends' attention, Tzuyu turned to look at her again. 

"Of course" she answered with a smile, Dahyun nodded satisfied and proceeded to eat her lunch rather quietly

"Chanyeol's party is this Friday" Jihyo informed Mina as the two were sitting under a tree during lunch period

"Mmm" Mina hummed out, careful not to open her mouth since it was currently full of food 

"Will you come?" Jihyo asked pouting as she looked hopefully at Mina "Dahyun is coming" Jihyo added quickly before Mina could say no. Mina let out a small laugh

Mina thought about it for a moment, it certainly would be nice to interact with Dahyun outside of their tutoring sessions, she enjoyed the younger's company but a party was still a party, and not the best scenario to get to know someone better. 

"So what?" Mina settled for saying even if she knew exactly why Jihyo had brought it up

"I just thought since you two like each other, it'd be nice to just hang out somewhere else" Jihyo shrugged at the same time Mina's head snapped towards her. 

"I don't like Dahyun, at least not like thAT" Mina clarified even if she herself was not so sure how much truth was behind her statement

"Sure you don't" Jihyo answered smiling at her stubborn best friend "Anyway, the party, yes or no?" 

"I don't think so Ji, I'm sorry" Mina looked over at her friend and offered her a lopsided smile

"It's okay, you don't have to apologize but if you change your mind my invitation stands" Jihyo said putting an end to that conversation. 

Jihyo then parted ways with Mina after dropping her at the computer lab and hurriedly made her way to the cafeteria. She had debated about it for quite some time and after much thought she decided it would do no harm to invite Nayeon and her friends to the party, so that's what she was about to do right now. 

"Hey" Jihyo said after confidently strutting towards Nayeon's table

"Hey" Jeongyeon answered with a nod, Momo waved at her, Nayeon seemed to be living in another universe where Jihyo didn't just greet her and Sana was too busy texting to be bothered by someone else's presence. 

"Sana, Nayeon" Jeongyeon whisper-yelled, effectively catching the girls' attention, she discreetly pointed towards Jihyo with her head. 

"Hi" Nayeon said uninterested and Sana did the same, except she had some hint of regret on her voice. 

"I just came over to invite you girls to my brother's party, it'll take place on my house this Friday, it starts around 8 also no alcohol allowed so please don't bring any and yeah…" Jihyo scratched her head awkwardly

"That sounds lovely, thanks for the invite" Jeongyeon threw the younger a warm smile hoping it would help ease her awkwardness

"Count me in" Momo gave Jihyo a thumbs up 

"Me too and hey" Sana began, Jihyo's eyes moved from Momo's cheeks full of food to Sana "can I bring a couple of friends along?" she asked thinking back to Jun and how hyped he seemed about this party 

"Sure just please remind them of the no alcohol thing" Jihyo requested and Sana nodded "You can bring your boyfriend if you want" Jihyo said directing her words towards Nayeon

Nayeon just answered with a nod and an unconvinced smile, now she HAD to bring him along or else it would be weird

"Wait, where do you live?" Momo made sure to ask before Jihyo began walking away

Momo and Jihyo exchanged phone numbers and Jihyo left after promising to text Momo her address later. 

"So you'll bring Shownu" Sana began not really sure where she was going with this or what she wanted to achieve 

"Yeah, I guess" Nayeon answered uninterested in the topic

"Don't sound so excited" Sana mocked sarcastically and Momo, who was sitting opposite to her, shook her head no after their eyes met, Sana shrugged and decided to pay her no mind, she had already gotten too far 

"What? Do you want me to get up on the table and shout it out? Would that be enough excitement for you?" Nayeon questioned slightly raising up an eyebrow

"I just thought you would seem happier about it, that's all" Sana shrugged before sipping her iced tea

"I'm fucking ecstatic, can't you tell?" Nayeon said her voice rising slightly "Whatever, I'll see you later" Nayeon got up from the table and walked away, what does Sana know? She thought, her head too clouded by her own anger. She wasn't sure exactly why she was angry but she was. 

Friday rolled around quickly and Dahyun soon found herself nearing the end of her tutoring session. She looked over at Mina's profile as the other girl spoke about something Dahyun should've probably been listening to, but how was Dahyun supposed to pay any attention at all when Mina was there, pretty as ever, because Dahyun swore Mina got prettier every day. 

"You're really pretty" Dahyun blurted out but she didn't feel any regret over it. She liked Mina, why would she hide it? She figured it was better to act on your feelings than to always wonder what could've happened. Mina stopped her history talk and looked over at Dahyun who was smiling brightly back at her. 

"Thanks" Mina answered shyly and for a moment Dahyun caught sight of a different side of Mina that faded as quickly as it came "We should make the most out of our last minutes of class" she said firmly, Dahyun just nodded and for the next ten minutes she actually paid attention. 

They were done at last and were both busy putting away their things. Mina stopped her movements abruptly and looked at a focused Dahyun that was trying to fit a folder Mina gave her inside her clearly smaller backpack, Mina cracked a smile. 

"Dahyun" she said getting the girl's attention as she turned to look at her with raised eyebrows, letting Mina know she had her attention "I think you're really pretty too" Mina admitted with a soft smile and red tainted cheeks, Dahyun soon found herself in a similar state. 

"I- thanks" Dahyun said looking to the opposite side for a moment in order to compose herself. She looked at Mina again 

"Are you going to Jihyo's party?" Dahyun asked. She had been wanting to ask ever wince Jihyo invited her, she knew Mina was Jihyo's best friend so she really hoped Mina would be going 

"Yes" Mina answered without hesitation, without giving it a second thought, perhaps Jihyo was right, perhaps she DID like Dahyun and she most definitely wanted to spend more time with her. 

"Cool, that's really great" Dahyun clapped her hands excitedly "I'll see you there then" Dahyun's face could barely hold her own smile right now as she took the folder with her left hand and walked away

"See you" Mina said as Dahyun walked by her on the way out, she watched her as she walked away and couldn't help but crack a smile. What are you doing to me Kim Dahyun? she thought to herself before walking out of the library too. 

"You guys wait here while I go get my stuff, I'll be quick" Tzuyu said before disappearing up the stairs. 

They had made a stop at Tzuyu's on the way to Dahyun's house because Tzuyu forgot her stuff for later, since she was staying over at Dahyun's after the party there were a few things she needed for that. 

"Aw, look at this baby pics" Chaeyoung said as she looked at the framed photos neatly lined up on top of the fireplace. Dahyun walked over next to Chaeyoung 

"Oh my god, is that Yuna?!" Dahyun half squealed pointing at a picture that was further back

"Nah bro, that's definitely baby Tzuyu" Chaeyoung affirmed 

"No way" Dahyun said and extended her arm to take the photo "look at her eyebrows, it SO is Yuna" Dahyun fought back taking a closer look at the photograph 

"No it's not, give me that" Chaeyoung snatched the picture out of Dahyun's hands to look at it closer "look at her eyes it can't be oth-" 

"Hey!" Dahyun complained cutting off Chaeyoung's explanation and then proceeding to trying to take the picture back, they were fighting for the photo until they eventually dropped it to the floor. The two of them looked at it as it hit the floor, the glass meant to protect it shattering before their eyes, for a moment the living room was completely silent

"Fuck fuck fuck" Chaeyoung began "what should we do?" 

"Run around in circles and panic" Dahyun rushed out 

"How is that gonna help us?" Chaeyoung questioned

"I don't know YOU tell me, you're the one who dropped it" Dahyun shrugged 

"Oh hell no! You're just as guilty as me!" at some point the two friends had started talking in whispers, perhaps out of fear that they would get caught by Tzuyu 

"No I'm not!" Dahyun began "you're the one who was being too stu-" their arguing was cut off 

"What is going on?" Tzuyu asked as she walked inside the living room, a bag hanging from her shoulder. Dahyun and Chaeyoung immediately took a step forward trying to cover up the shattered glass

"Nothing" Chaeyoung lied, Tzuyu took a deep breath 

"Please step aside" Tzuyu ordered and both of them obeyed, Dahyun's head hanging low. Tzuyu contemplated the mess for a moment 

"I can't believe you guys killed baby Yuna" Tzuyu said, Dahyun looked at Chaeyoung and when the other looked back at her she stuck her tongue out "I'll go get a broom" Tzuyu informed as she walked out of the living room

The three friends arrived to the party about an hour late, they got too caught up in their game of Monopoly and lost track of time but they were here now, ready to enjoy themselves. The place was packed when they arrived, there was a karaoke in the living room as well as a TV where people were playing video games, they walked into the big backyard and out there was a trampoline, a bouncy obstacle course and a Nerf arena where a fight was currently going on. 

"Nerf guns?" Dahyun asked looking at her friends standing on her left side 

"Nerf guns" Chaeyoung said as her and Tzuyu nodded smiling 

"I'm going to get something to drink" Dahyun informed taking off her mask and setting her nerf gun away, her friend's nodded in acknowledgement and kept on playing

Dahyun took a sip from the Fanta she had just poured herself, her eyes scanning Jihyo's house hoping to spot Mina, she had been wanting to look for her ever since they arrived. 

"Hey" Dahyun greeted as she took a seat next to Mina on the grey couch "Oop" Dahyun let out after almost dropping the contents of her red cup

"Dahyun-ah!" Mina said as a form of greeting after seeing Dahyun, her gummy smile making an appearance, Mina was definitely happy to see the younger girl 

"Are you gonna play?" Dahyun asked pointing at the on going game on the TV with her red cup, Mina looked at the TV, then at Dahyun and then down at the floor 

"No, I don't think so" she answered, Dahyun could tell that she wanted to but for some reason wouldn't and she felt like she had to do something about it

"You wanna get out of here?" Dahyun asked thinking of an alternative 

"What? Where would we even go?" Mina asked puzzled 

"I live next door" Dahyun explained with a smile and Mina nodded 

"Yeah, let's go" Mina said, the loud music being sung awfully in the karaoke had her head spinning, getting out of there seemed like the best option to her right now

Chaeyoung and Tzuyu were waiting for their turn to sing on the karaoke machine, they had received a text from Dahyun earlier where she informed them she had already left the party and would wait for them at her house, after that the two friends decided to go sing in the karaoke 

"I need to pee" Chaeyoung got up abruptly, nature called. There were a total of three restrooms on the first floor and they were all occupied, the universe surely was conspiring against her. 

"Chaeyoung right?" Chaeyoung was intercepted by Jihyo on her way to try her luck again and see of maybe one of the restrooms was available already

"Right" she rushed out wanting this conversation to be over. 

"Are you alright?" Jihyo asked noticing the girl's distress

"Not really" Chaeyoung answered honestly "I really need to pee but all the restrooms are occupied" she explained 

"Oh, you can use the one in my room, up the stairs second door to the right" Jihyo said happy to offer Chaeyoung an alternative 

"Thank you SO much" Chaeyoung smiled before practically sprinting up the stairs, into Jihyo's rllm and finally into the girl's bathroom 

Chaeyoung walked out of the bathroom once she was done peeing and it was only then when she noticed the door to the balcony was wide open, she walked towards it with the purpose of shutting it close but someone was sitting out there 

"Jeongyeon?" she foolishly asked, she should've just walked away

"Chaeyoung" Jeongyeon said after turning her head to look at the younger and Chaeyoung hated how her heart started beating faster after that 

"Sorry, I didn't think anyone was out here" the air between them felt weird and Chaeyoung felt the need to explain herself "I'll leave you to it, sorry again" Chaeyoung said before turning to walk away

"Chae" Jeongyeon called out "Don't go" Chaeyoung could feel the older's gaze burning on the back of her neck "It's really nice out here" Jeongyeon said in an attempt to make the younger stay, and Chaeyoung hated how her heart sank at how small Jeongyeon sounded right now, she sighed before turning around and walking out on the balcony, a fresh breeze hitting her face. Against better judgment, she sat down next to Jeongyeon. 

Momo swears Sana was besides her a second ago, but now, for some reason, she was gone, so naturally Momo was looking for her, like a child looking for their mother in the supermarket. Her search went on for a few minutes before she spotted a familiar face in the big crowd, Jun. 

"Hey Jun" Momo raised her voice a little so the boy would hear her over someone's rendition of My Heart Will Go On "have you seen Sana?" Momo asked now that she had the boy's attention and before she lost it, he shook his head no and turned to whisper something on his boyfriend's ear. Jeonghan shrugged and Momo pouted slightly 

"Thanks anyway" she said and continued looking for her best friend. She stood in the middle of the living room and on her tiptoes hoping to spot Sana's blonde hair in the crowd

"Looking for someone?" Momo heard a sweet voice ask

"Huh?" she let out standing properly now and turning her whole body towards the source of the sweet voice "Jihyo, hey, yeah I'm looking for Sana" Momo explained grateful for the familiarity Jihyo brought, even when they barely knew each other, there was just something soothing about Jihyo 

"Well you can stop looking cause she's right there" Jihyo pointed behind Momo and Momo turned around to find Sana laughing with her girlfriend "seems like she's in good hands" Jihyo commented 

"So it seems" Momo turned to Jihyo again, nodding

"Yep" Jihyo nodded too, unsure of what to say or do 

"So, you wanna like, make out or something?" Momo asked hoping to ease the slight awkwardness between them by quoting a show she watched with Jeongyeon, Jihyo let out a sincere laugh 

"At least take me out first" Jihyo answered amused, Momo nodded and took ahold of Jihyo's hand, dragging her behind her. 

"What are you doing?" Jihyo asked as they walked through the door that led to the background

"Taking you out, obviously" Momo answered with a smirk that was almost a smile, Jihyo briefly looked at her before laughter tool over, it was contagious and Momo quickly found herself laughing along. 

"I bet I can beat you in that obstacle course" Momo challenged once their laughter died down

"I'd love to see you try" Jihyo smiled as the two made a run for it towards said obstacle course. 

Tzuyu was up next for the karaoke and there was still no sight of Chaeyoung nor any indication that she was coming back anytime soon. Tzuyu scanned the floor again looking for Chaeyoung but her eyes stopped on someone else entirely, Nayeon, pouring herself a drink in the kitchen, Tzuyu didn't think twice before walking over to her. 

"Nayeon" Tzuyu said as she walked inside the kitchen 

"Chou Tzuyu" Nayeon slurred out pointing her red cup towards Tzuyu twice, spilling its contents almost entirely 

"Are you drunk?" Tzuyu asked both surprised and a tad concerned 

"No" she shook her head as if that gesture would give her words more credibility "If I was drunk would I be able to do this?" Nayeon asked as she placed her right index finger on top of her nose 

"Well, considering the fact that you're drunk and just did that I'd say yes" Tzuyu smiled amused 

"I hate you" Nayeon said before downing the remaining beverage in her cup 

"How are you even drunk? There's no alcohol in here" Tzuyu was genuinely curious and again, just slightly concerned 

"I snuck some in, obviously" Nayeon finished pouring herself a new drink that she downed even faster than the other one 

"Okay, I think that's enough" Tzuyu said taking Nayeon's bottle of vodka away from her and placing it inside a top cabinet she knew Nayeon wouldn't reach. Nayeon stared at her for what felt like an eternity

"Tzuyu, you're so pretty" Nayeon said, her eyes glassy, who knew if it was from her drunken state or because she felt so moved by Tzuyu's unreal beauty

"You're drunk Nayeon" Tzuyu dismissed Nayeon's words in an attempt to stop her heart from beating faster, in order to stop herself from feeling something

"Shhh" Nayeon said putting a finger against Tzuyu's lips and suddenly Nayeon was too close, was this kitchen always this small? "listen to me" Nayeon got even closer and Tzuyu felt the counter pressing hard against her back "You. Are. So. Pretty." suddenly Nayeon grabbed Tzuyu's face with both hands "Wow" she said as her eyes wandered all over Tzuyu's face "I just wanna…" Nayeon started leaning closer and Tzuyu didn't even try to move away, suddenly Nayeon's breath was hitting her upper lip and Tzuyu could smell the vodka Nayeon had been chugging earlier. 

"Throw up" Nayeon said ripping herself off Tzuyu quickly and leaning against the kitchen sink "I just wanna throw up" she repeated the complete phrase. Tzuyu sighed and got behind her in order to hold her hair as she threw up. There was no way she could've predicted she'd end up being Nayeon's babysitter tonight. 

"Yes! Tenth victory in a row! Wow, you really do suck at this" Mina told Dahyun as she beat her yet again in a game Dahyun had never played before 

In all honesty, even if Dahyun had any experience in the game, she would've gladly let Mina win just to see her this happy. 

"Do you want anything? A cup of coffee maybe?" Dahyun offered before Mina could press start to their re-match 

"Ah, no thanks, coffee isn't really my cup of tea" Mina admitted, she had never been too fond of the taste and always wondered why people loved it so much 

"Of course it's not… If anything, it'd be your cup of coffee" Dahyun joked, Mina smiled 

"You're annoyingly charming" Mina said shaking her head 

"So I've been told" Dahyun said confidently 

"Reeaally? By who?" Mina inquired 

"By you, three seconds ago" she answered with a smirk and a wiggle of her eyebrows. Mina laughed and covered up her mouth. So damn annoying but oh so charming, she thought before setting up another match of Injustice. 

Jeongyeon and Chaeyoung had been talking for a while as if they had never stopped, as if the past weeks never happened. Jeongyeon thought that if she could choose to stay in this moment forever, she would. She would rather take this over the reality. The reality where Chaeyoung didn't like her back, the reality in which Chaeyoung only became her friend so she could set her up with someone else, a reality where looking at Chaeyoung, or even thinking of her, hurt 

"And she said, it's true, my hand said so" Chaeyoung finished her story and Jeongyeon let out a loud laugh

"Hold on, I wanna try to read your palm" Jeongyeon said and took Chaeyoung's left hand with her right one, looking at it silently 

"I didn't know you were into palm reading" Chaeyoung commented. Jeongyeon looked at Chaeyoung's hand a bit longer and sighed

"I'm not" she admitted and turned her head to the right to look at Chaeyoung, they locked eyes and in a moment of raw courage she admitted "but I'm into you" Jeongyeon held her breath while she waited for Chaeyoung's response, if she had to hold her breath forever then so be it, Chaeyoung was worth it

"I don't know what you expect me to say" Chaeyoung took her hand out of Jeongyeon's hold and shook her head "I'm sorry Jeong, I can't do this to Tzuyu" Chaeyoung broke their intense eye contact "I think I better go" and this time Jeongyeon didn't try to stop her

Jeongyeon scolded herself for ruining the moment, Chaeyoung's words repeating themselves over and over in her head, like a broken record, 'I can't do this to Tzuyu' What exactly did Chaeyoung mean by that? Was she implying that she liked Jeongyeon too? She didn't want to get her hopes up but it surely sounded like that. 

Momo and Jihyo were currently jumping on the trampoline after Momo has successfully beat Jihyo in the obstacle course. Momo's condition was way better given all the exercise that she did with the cheerleading so it wasn't really a surprise that she came out victorious 

"That's basically how I ended up as president of the student council" Jihyo finished answering Momo's question "It was one of those right place right time situations" 

"That's a really funny story" Momo commented amused 

"How did you end up in the cheerleading squad? I heard it's hard to get in" Jihyo asked 

"This isn't fair" Momo pouted getting Jihyo to smile mid-jump "My story is boring in comparison, but okay" she made a dramatic pause "I'm Nayeon's friend" 

"That's it?" Jihyo asked amused and Momo nodded "can we stop jumping? I can't feel my legs" they both stopped after that and Jihyo plopped down on the trampoline, Momo soon laid beside her

"Do you like it though? The cheerleading?" Jihyo asked looking to make conversation 

"Yeah it's fun, and it's really satisfying to see the results you know? Sometimes Nayeon gets too intense about it, but it's fine, I know how important it is to her, do you enjoy student council?" 

"I do, I feel like I'm actually doing something, helping, improving the student body's high school experience, it's nice" Jihyo answered and Momo nodded but then remembered Jihyo wouldn't be able to see her 

"You've done a great job, everyone thinks so" Momo complimented and it was true, everyone loved Jihyo 

"Thanks Momo, it's nice talking to you" Jihyo admitted

"Hyo!" Jihyo heard her brother's voice calling, she sighed before standing up and helping Momo up too

"Sorry" she looked at Momo apologetically "Duty calls" 

"Do what you must" Momo reassured with a smile and Jihyo hopped off the trampoline to go meet up with her brother. 

Tzuyu had moved Nayeon into the closest restroom she could find, which, conveniently was next to the kitchen. She figured seeing a girl throwing up on the sink while you tried to get a drink wasn't exactly a pleasant scenario. After Nayeon was seemingly done puking, Tzuyu decided it'd be best to take Nayeon home. 

“How did you get here?” Tzuyu asked a still very drunk Nayeon 

“You brought me here” Nayeon said throwing Tzuyu a lopsided smile wondering why Tzuyu would ask such thing when she was the one that dragged her into this restroom in the first place

“No, yeah, I know” Tzuyu regretted not formulating her question more clearly “I meant, to the party” she clarified and Nayeon nodded

“Jeongyeon” Nayeon answered and rested her cheek on top of the closed toilet, everything was spinning and Nayeon just wanted to sleep. 

Tzuyu’s eyes shifted from Nayeon to the door to Nayeon again, she had fallen asleep sitting on the floor and resting her head on the toilet, Tzuyu smiled at the cute sight of Nayeon’s cheek pressing against the toilet. She couldn’t leave her alone but she needed to find Jeongyeon, ah! Tzuyu thought, better yet, she should have Jeongyeon find them. She was thankful as ever that she had the older’s number saved on her phone, she put it against her ear.

“Tzuyu?” Jeongyeon answered when she picked up 

“Hey Jeongyeon, I’m in the restroom next to the kitchen, I need your help, please come quickly” Tzuyu explained and hung up without letting Jeongyeon answer. Tzuyu heard a knock on the door less than a minute later

"Come in" Tzuyu said rather loudly and Jeongyeon walked into the spacious restroom

"Tzuyu, what's going on?" Jeongyeon asked as she saw Tzuyu, the slightly taller girl just pointed to her left and Jeongyeon spotted a sleeping Nayeon 

"What happened to her?" Jeongyeon questioned, concerned about her best friend 

"She's drunk, almost completely wasted" Tzuyu informed 

"How-" Jeongyeon was going to ask but Tzuyu cut her off, already being able to make out what it was Jeongyeon would ask

"She snuck in a bottle of vodka about this size" Tzuyu tried to demonstrate its size "and drank more than half of it" Jeongyeon shook her head at Nayeon "she was puking for a while, I should take her home, could I borrow your car?" Tzuyu asked 

Jeongyeon had driven her friends from school to her own house that was down the street from Jihyo's so her car was parked at her house, she pondered over just offering to take Nayeon to her house and let her sleep there but she was sure Nayeon would be pleased to know that Tzuyu was the one who helped her out so she decided against it 

"It's over at my house, but I'll go get it for you" Jeongyeon offered 

"Oh no, it's okay then, I'll just call a cab" Tzuyu said "Could you text me her address?" Jeongyeon nodded 

"Thanks" Tzuyu said "would help me get her outside?" Tzuyu asked and they both managed to drag Nayeon outside as they waited for the taxi to arrive

They were silent as they waited, it wasn't awkward, just silent. Nayeon was snoring softly and Tzuyu had to fight back her smile as she looked at her side profile. 

While Tzuyu was busy staring at Nayeon, Jeongyeon was observing their surroundings. She spotted Momo on the front door of the house next to Jihyo's, that's when she realized why exactly that house looked familiar, it was Dahyun's, but what was Momo doing there? She'd figure it out later

The taxi arrived and they got Nayeon inside after some struggle. Tzuyu got in through the door on the opposite side, Nayeon's body resting down as soon as she was seated, her head laying on top of the younger's lap. Instinctively, Tzuyu's hand started playing with her hair

"If she pukes on my taxi I'm charging you extra" the driver warned after seeing the drunken state the paler girl was in

"Sounds fair" Tzuyu replied and after that the rest of the ride was silent with only Nayeon's soft snores filling up the air inside the taxi

"Hey, wake up" Tzuyu said trying to wake Nayeon up "We're here" she said shaking her by her shoulder gently

"Huh?" Nayeon woke up looking at Tzuyu down from the other girl's lap "Here where? Heaven?" Nayeon asked furrowing her eyebrows, Tzuyu let out a small laugh after Nayeon's comment 

"Here as in your house, come on, let's go" Tzuyu urged as Nayeon sat up. Tzuyu walked out of the car and quickly walked to the other side to help Nayeon get out. They walked up to Nayeon's front door as the taxi drove away

"Where are your keys?" Tzuyu asked Nayeon seriously hoping Nayeon had them with her. 

"My kids? I don't have any kids" Nayeon rested her forehead on her wooden door and closed her eyes

"I said your keys" Tzuyu repeated, shouldn't she be annoyed by this? How come she found it endearing? 

"Oh, back pocket" Nayeon said lazily pointing to the back pocket of her jeans

"Um, could you get them for me?" Tzuyu requested 

"Can't do, too sleepy" Nayeon barely explained and Tzuyu sighed. She tried to retrieve the keys as carefully as she could so she wouldn't accidentally touch her butt. 

Tzuyu walked Nayeon to the kitchen where she poured her a glass of water 

"Drink this" she said handing Nayeon the glass, she drank all of it in one sip 

"Thanks" she said setting the glass down on the counter and wiping her mouth with the sleeve of her sweatshirt. She walked up to Tzuyu and tiptoed to plant a kiss on the younger's cheek, she then wrapped her arms around Tzuyu's waist and rested her head on the taller's chest. Tzuyu gave in and wrapped her arms around Nayeon too

"I like you so much" Nayeon admitted her voice distorted by Tzuyu's chest and her own drunkenness "You're so pretty and kind and funny and you smell really nice and your cheek is so soft, you're so good to me but I shouldn't like you and it's so hard to ignore you when I like you so muc-" Nayeon couldn't even finish talking when she started sobbing softly against Tzuyu and all Tzuyu could do was tighten her hold. She opted for dismissing everything Nayeon just said in an attempt to calm down her fast beating heart, it was just the alcohol speaking anyway. 

"Come on" Tzuyu said slightly pushing Nayeon away "Let's get you to bed" Nayeon wiped her tears and nodded

It was only while taking Nayeon up to her room that she noticed there was no one else home. How come there was never anyone else here? Did Nayeon live on her own? 

Upon entering the older's room, Tzuyu sat Nayeon down on her bed and retrieved Nayeon's pajamas from under the pillow, Nayeon once told her that she always kept them there 

"You should get changed" Tzuyu suggested handing Nayeon her bed clothes. Nayeon nodded her eyes closing involuntarily, she shook her head and stood up taking off her shirt, Tzuyu quickly turned around so she wouldn't look

"I'm done" Nayeon informed and Tzuyu turned around, noticing Nayeon shirt was on backwards 

Nayeon was quick to crawl inside her bed and Tzuyu put the covers over her, she crouched down and without really thinking her right hand made its way to Nayeon's cheek, caressing it with her thumb, Nayeon smiled at the gesture and was quick to fall asleep. 

Tzuyu left her hand there as she observed Nayeon's features for a bit, her eyebrows, her closed eyes, her cute nose, her parted lips, her soft cheek, she felt like a creep for staring but that did not stop her. Why did she keep doing this kind of things for Nayeon? Nayeon wasn't really her friend, in fact, she was always rude to her except for the few exceptions so why did Tzuyu bother sticking by her side? If it was anyone else Tzuyu would've told them to fuck off a looong time ago, so what was it about Nayeon? 

Tzuyu came to a sudden realization that made her take her hand off Nayeon's cheek as if it was made out of fire, she stuck by Nayeon's side because she liked her, she'd put up with anything for her. She liked Nayeon's smile and her face in general, sure she was very pretty but it was more than just that. She liked Nayeon's determination and hard work, she liked her strength and when she laughed so hard she had to hit whoever was besides her, she liked her stubbornness and her natural charisma. She liked Nayeon. She liked Nayeon so. Fucking. Much. 

"Oh shit" she let out quietly, she looked at Nayeon for a little longer "I'll deal with it in the morning" she decided and walked out towards Nayeon's living room, sleeping in the couch didn't seem like such a bad idea. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: I really liked how this chapter turned out so I hope it was enough to make up for all the time it took me to update :(


	16. No Ragrets... or Maybe Some

You know that feeling when you think something isn't a bad idea and then it turns out to be a terrible idea? Whatever that feeling was called, Tzuyu was feeling a lot of it the morning after Jihyo's party when she was woken up by screaming coming from Nayeon's second floor 

"One night Nayeon! WE LEAVE FOR ONE NIGHT AND YOU GO OUT AND GET DRUNK OUT OF YOUR MIND!" were the words Tzuyu's ears picked up as she woke up, her best guess, that was Nayeon's mom, and she did NOT sound happy. 

"Where did we go wrong with you? Why can't you be more like your sister?" the woman's voice was fainter than before but Tzuyu still heard it clearly, that was not a nice thing to say 

"Go get yourself presentable, take a shower, brush your teeth, you reek of alcohol, I'll go deal with that girl sleeping in our couch" Tzuyu heard… That girl was her! She heard footsteps coming down the stairs and shut her eyes tightly, pretending to be asleep. 

"I know you're awake" Nayeon's mom said and Tzuyu could feel a pair of eyes burning through her "You're gonna stop pretending to sleep and tell me who you are and what the hELL YOU'RE DOING SLEEPING IN MY COUCH!" the woman demanded shouting and Tzuyu flinched before hesitantly opening her eyes and sitting properly on the couch. The sight that welcomed her was a woman standing in front of her wearing an angry expression, her arms crossed, Tzuyu gulped

"My name is Ch-" Tzuyu began looking everywhere but at Nayeon's mom, she just couldn't bring herself to make eye contact, she was quickly cut off 

"Look at me when you speak!" she demanded and Tzuyu's eyes slowly found Mrs. Im's 

"M-my name is Chou Tzuyu" she tried again, speaking rather quickly so she could break the eye contact as soon as possible "I helped Nayeon get home last night" she finished nervously, Mrs. Im's aura was scary and intimidating 

"So? Am I supposed to give you an award for that?" Mrs. Im sarcastically asked 

"N-no but y-you asked why I was here" Tzuyu tried to explain looking away for a bit 

"Doesn't explain why you're sleeping on my couch, don't you have a house or something?" she raised her voice slightly

"I do b-but i-" Tzuyu scolded herself for stuttering so much

"B-but" the woman mocked and Tzuyu wondered why she was being so unnecessarily mean to her "Get out of my house! You better hope I don't see you around here again" she threatened and Tzuyu was left with no choice but to pick up her tennis shoes and quickly make her way out of the house, she closed the front door behind her and put on her shoes. 

Nayeon's mom was so mean, Tzuyu really didn't mind the fact that she was rude to her, it just threw her off, but she had said something awful to Nayeon and Tzuyu couldn't just do nothing so she sent Jeongyeon a text asking for Nayeon's number. 

Dahyun woke up the next morning, she yawned keeping her eyes closed and proceeded to stretch her limbs. She extended her arms upwards and then to the side where her left arm collided with something, or rather, someone, her eyes shot open. 

Dahyun let out a series of screams and took a closer look at this someone's face, Jeongyeon… What was Jeongyeon doing sleeping with her on the sofa? That's when she sat up and took a look around, she noticed three sleeping bags scattered on the floor, seemingly occupied but, by who? 

"What the hell are you all doing here?!" Dahyun shouted filled with uncertainty about who exactly was sleeping on her floor 

Surprisingly all her shouting was not enough to wake up but one person in that room, Momo, the girl slightly uncovered her face that was previously hidden by the sleeping bag, she looked over at Dahyun with only one eye open

"Your mom let us in" Momo explained her voice hoarse from having just woken up "Now shh, I need at least six more hours of sleep" Momo covered her face with the sleeping bag once more, Dahyun shrugged and laid back down quickly falling asleep again, no longer worried about who was in the other two sleeping bags, if her mom let them in there was no need to worry. 

Momo woke up to the smell of pancakes and bacon, she smiled before opening her eyes and getting up from where she had slept on the floor. She noticed she was the only one left in Dahyun's room and figured everyone must be downstairs eating breakfast so she wasted no time joining them. 

Momo followed the pleasant smell and soon found herself under the kitchen door, Dahyun's mom was busy flipping pancakes but immediately noticed Momo's presence

"Good morning sweetheart, how did you sleep?" Mrs. Kim asked briefly looking at Momo 

"Morning Mrs. Kim, I slept well, thanks" Momo bowed 

"Take a plate and suit yourself, there's plenty of food" Mrs. Kim smiled at Momo 

"Thank you" she answered gratefully before getting ahold of a plate and stacking five pancakes on top of it 

"Morning Momo" Dahyun greeted as soon as the girl sat down 

"Hey" she answered and took a quick look around before digging in 

Dahyun was still confused as to how Jeongyeon, Jihyo and Momo ended up at her house, it was only supposed to be Chaeyoung and Tzuyu staying over, speaking of which, where was Tzuyu? Dahyun furrowed her eyebrows 

"Hey Chae" Dahyun called out for the younger's attention, Chaeyoung looked up mid bite and raised her eyebrows

"Where is Tzuyu?" Dahyun asked, Chaeyoung's eyes shot towards Jeongyeon, who was already looking at her, and the feeling of guilt she had been feeling yesterday came crawling back in 

"Don't know" she shrugged, only somewhat worried about her friend's whereabouts 

"Did she like text you or something?" Dahyun pushed again and Chaeyoung shook her head no, her mouth now full

"Mmm, that's odd" Dahyun said more to herself just as Jeongyeon replied to Tzuyu's text asking for Nayeon's number

"You should call her" Jeongyeon suggested, she knew where Tzuyu was but reminded herself that Dahyun didn't. Dahyun nodded in agreement before standing up from the table

"How about Nayeon?" Momo began directing her gaze towards Jeongyeon "she was supposed to sleep at yours" 

"She went home" Jeongyeon briefly explained not wanting to get into detail "how 'bout Sana? She was supposed to sleep over at mine too" Jeongyeon quickly changed the topic

"I saw her leave with Eunha" Jihyo, who had been quietly eating this whole time, answered 

"Jihyooo!!" Momo screamed excitedly as some form of greeting, making Jihyo laugh. Momo had been so focused on her breakfast she hadn't even seen her 

Dahyun came back shortly after talking to Tzuyu, her friend just told her she had gone back home but something didn't make sense since she left all if her stuff behind. Whatever it was, Dahyun decided not to think too much about it, her breakfast was getting cold. 

Tzuyu had been fidgeting with her cellphone for a while now, after Jeongyeon had sent her Nayeon's number she saved it but started feeling hesitant. She was now laying in bed, contemplating her options, which were only two, either she called Nayeon or she didn't, that was it. She abruptly sat down in bed, now or never, she thought before dialing Nayeon's number 

Tzuyu put the phone up to her ear and her heart started beating faster after every beep. Before, she would've had no problem speaking to the older, but now just the thought of it was getting her palms sweaty due to her newfound feelings and everything, she composed herself. 

She thought briefly of hanging up but before she could, Nayeon finally picked up the phone 

"Hello?" Nayeon half answered, half asked 

"Hi" Tzuyu answered, a small smile forming upon hearing the older's voice 

"Who is this?" Nayeon was confused on the other side of that phone call, who could be calling her on a Saturday? Who would be calling her at all? 

"It's Tzuyu" Tzuyu answered, suddenly questioning herself as to why she was doing this. The conversation was silent for nearly a minute, only their breathing could be heard 

"Was there something you needed or…?" Nayeon left her question hanging, wondering why Tzuyu was calling her, trying to ignore the fact that she could feel her heartbeat in her ears 

"I…" Tzuyu knew why she was calling but she was unsure what to say exactly "I heard what your mom told you this morning" Tzuyu settled for saying 

"That's none of your business actually" Nayeon said only slightly annoyed and rather worried Tzuyu would take advantage of that information, the reason for the younger's call was still unclear to her 

"Maybe not but since I already heard I just wanted to say…" Tzuyu made a pause, kinda expecting Nayeon to hang up on her but when she didn't Tzuyu continued "I don't know your sister and I don't need to in order to know there's absolutely no need for comparison, you're honestly amazing as you are, you're passionate and driven, you're hard-working, you're Nayeon! And there's no need for you to try to be someone else because you being you is the best thing that has happened to me" Tzuyu finished, regret washing over her due to her last words, not because she didn't mean them, but because she wasn't ready for Nayeon to hear them 

The phone call went silent again, Nayeon was trying to hold back her tears, she was in a fragile state after her mom's scolding and now this, it was the perfect combo for tears

"I'm gonna hang up now" Nayeon said careful not to let her voice crack

"Yup" Tzuyu said before the line went dead, she worried that maybe she had overstepped but at least she got it off her chest, she wasn't used to being like this, but at least now she knew why she was acting this way. 

“I’m too small of a person to have eaten that many pancakes” Jihyo complained rubbing her stomach, they were all currently sprawled about in Dahyun’s living room “No regrets though” she finished 

“Not even one letter?” Dahyun asked making a reference to a movie she had watched a couple times 

“Well” Momo began as she go tup from her seat on the couch “I better get going” 

“Yeah, me too” Chaeyoung informed starting to get up as well

“I’ll give you two a ride” Jeongyeon offered sitting up on the floor, and even though her question was directed towards the two girls, her eyes were focused solely on Chaeyoung. 

Chaeyoung felt like she had been put on the spot, she didn’t really want a ride from Jeongyeon but rejecting the older’s offer might raise suspicion, before Chaeyoung could say anything, Momo answered for the two. 

“Hell yeah!” was what Momo enthusiastically shouted 

“Cool, uh” Jeongyeon’s eyes briefly scanned Mina’s face trying to remember her name “Mina, do you need a ride as well?” Jeongyeon asked her, Mina’s gaze drifted towards Dahyun and the two exchanged a shy smile 

“No thanks, I’ll hang out here a bit longer” she answered and Dahyun’s smile widened 

“Alright then” Jeongyeon clapped her hands together and soon after Momo and Chaeyoung gathered their stuff they set off. 

“I should go too” Jihyo informed and left, not before throwing a teasing smirk towards Mina who just answered with a shake of her head

“Wanna watch a movie?” Dahyun asked Mina and the older nodded eagerly 

Other than a few remarks Momo made here and there the car ride with Jeongyeon had been mostly silent, Chaeyoung was still a bit awkwards around Momo but both, her and Jeongyeon, knew that wasn’t the reason why this car ride was so tense and it only got worse after they dropped Momo off. Thankfully at some point Jeongyeon gave up hope for a conversation and turned the radio on. 

Chaeyoung really thought the car ride would be uneventful and that they’d just never talk about what was said yesterday but when Jeongyeon parked her car in front of Chaeyoung’s house she sensed something would happen since Jeongyeon hadn’t unlocked the doors, she could just unlock them herself but she wasn’t able to move, the air around them was way too thick. Jeongyeon’s grip on the steering wheel tightened 

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry I made things so awkward” Jeongyeon said after taking a deep breath, her eyes looking forward, knuckles turning white, Chaeyoung could tell she was trying hard to hold back her tears. Chaeyoung was about to accept the apology so they could move on but Jeongyeon was quicker to speak than her “But I don’t regret it” she began, Chaeyoung bit her lip 

“I like you, I really like you, it was very unexpected but I do and I think” Jeongyeon made a pause to take another deep breath “I think you really like me too” she let out as she exhaled and it would’ve been inaudible to Chaeyoung had it not been for the silence that filled the tiny space they were in. 

“It doesn’t matter if I do or don’t” Chaeyoung started, trying to think of what to say so Jeongyeon would understand the position she had been put in, so Jeongyeon would feel empathy towards her and just drop it 

“That’s the only thing that matters” Jeongyeon whispered, more to herself but once again silence became her silent helper 

Chaeyoung’s eyes were getting filled with unshed tears, guilt had been eating her away ever since she figured out her feelings for Jeongyeon. What kind of friend would she be if she acted out on the,? She needed to toughen up. Tzuyu’s friendship mattered more right? More than her own happiness? Chaeyoung didn’t have time for moral dilemmas anymore, she needed to do something, anything 

“I told you yesterday, I won’t do this to Tzuyu, now please unlock the door” Chaeyoung’s voice came out colder and harsher than she had expected, than she even thought was possible for her and suddenly, trapped in that tiny space it felt like they were light years apart. Chaeyoung didn’t even want to look at Jeongyeon, could she stand seeing her cry? Knowing it was her who made her cry? Jeongyeon’s gaze didn’t move from where it was settled when she had began talking a few minutes ago, or had it been hours? time was irrelevant, she unlocked the doors. Tear after tear fell from her cheeks as she drove away but she didn’t make any attempts at wiping them away, there was no use if she could not wipe away the heartache. 

At some point throughout the movie Dahyun and Mina were watching, the younger rested her head on Mina’s shoulder with a deep sigh, she hadn’t really been paying the movie any attention because she kept thinking back to her call with Tzuyu and the way Jeongyeon was looking at Chaeyoung, she hated that she kept on noticing this seemingly unimportant things because right now they were keeping her from enjoying her time with Mina but she just wanted to make sense of the situation and also maybe she was just a little upset her friends weren’t telling her anything. 

“Are you okay?” Mina asked softly trying not to move too much so Dahyun wouldn’t take her head off her shoulder

“Huh?” Dahyun asked lifting her head off Mina’s shoulder to look at her, well, Mina thought, that didn’t go as planned. 

“You seem distracted” Mina observed and Dahyun gave her a small reassuring smile 

She could tell Mina everything that was on her mind, about Nayeon and Tzuyu, about Chaeyoung and Jeongyeon, about how she felt her friends were drifting away from her, but then again, she was just getting to know Mina, she didn’t want to unload all of her worried onto her. 

“It’s just… I’m a little nervous about the History exam” she settled for saying and it wasn’t really a lie so she figured it was okay 

“It’s two months away, we have plenty of time to study, I’m sure you’ll do great” Mina gave Dahyun her brightest smile in an attempt to cheer her up

“Yeah, you’re right” Dahyun answered but still seemed unconvinced 

“Besides, you have the best tutor there is” Mina nudged Dahyun with her elbow, Dahyun let out a small laugh 

“That I do” she answered before resting her head back on Mina’s shoulder, Mina smiled, she definitely enjoyed the feeling. 

Nayeon had been going over her phone call with Tzuyu the whole day, of course her first instinct, and her more foolish one, was to think it was a really sweet gesture of the younger but she then started thinking about the implications; firstly, now Tzuyu was aware of the way her mother treated her, which, being completely honest, wasn’t at all ideal. Secondly, it meant whatever Tzuyu’s motivations to call her were, they couldn’t be good, be it pity or some elaborate plan to get back at her. Before Nayeon’s thoughts could go any deeper her phone started ringing. 

“Hello?” she picked up and heard someone breathing heavily on the other side 

“Can you come over?” Nayeon immediately recognized Jeongyeon’s voice, even if she was crying. 

“I’ll be right there” Nayeon hung up and quickly drove to Jeongyeon’s house, the younger’s mother answered the door and let Nayeon know Jeongyeon was upstairs in her room. As soon as Nayeon walked in she settled herself down on Jeongyeon’s bed and held her, right now that was what Jeongyeon needed the most. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so sorry, it took me way too long to write something rather short but lately I had been finding myself unable to enjoy writing, and I didn't want to write just for the sake of updating because writing is sort of my stress reliever so I wanted to apologize and I also wanted to thank anyone who still reads this for their patience towards me and this story, I love WIGB and I'm not letting go of it anytime soon but I want to make sure that while doing so I'm still enjoying myself so the results can be enjoyable for those who read as well. Until next time :)


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